The Iron Warrior: Volume 29, Issue 13

The Newspaper of the University of Waterloo Engineering Society
Volume 29 Issue 13 | Wednesday, october 29, 2008
SPECIAL ENGSOC ELECTION FEATURE
Point vs. Counterpoint: Should the EngSoc Fee be Increased? Basic Fix-Its: Recovering from Midterms
Pages 9 to 12
Page 14
Page 16
http://iwarrior.uwaterloo.ca
Dean Rothenburg Reveals All About Dubai Campus

Yousif Al-khder
2a management
As announced last month, the University of Waterloo is developing a satellite campus in Dubai. Located in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai is a rapidly growing city fed by a massive economic boom that is home to some of the most exciting engineering projects in the world. Taking advantage of this opportunity, two new engineering programs are to be established there, in conjunction with programs offered by the Faculty of Math. The Iron Warrior had the opportunity to sit down with Acting Dean Rothenburg this week and discuss this exciting new development for UW Engineering. The interview began by asking Dean Rothenburg about the current status of the new campus in Dubai and how it is moving forward. He responded by saying that the situation is slowly progressing at the moment, and that communication has been difficult with UWs partners in the UAE, the Higher Colleges of Technology.
Nevertheless, the targeted starting date is set for Fall 2009. To make sure that this target is met, Professor Magdy Salama, from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been appointed as the UAE campus director. He will be travelling to the UAE in November to oversee the development of the new site. Rothenburg also mentioned that the facilities provided in Academic City, UWs new location, are quite impressive, but some of the classrooms will need development to hold the larger number of students. The labs already in place at the site are suitable for students to use, including both civil and electrical facilities. After mentioning electrical labs and GENE 123, we asked Professor Rothenburg if the courses taught there will be the same as the ones taught here. He replied by saying that UW will try to provide a mirror image of what we do here, and implement it in the UAE, meaning that the
See MIDDLE EAST EXPANSION on Page 5
More Cash Pledged For IQC

Federal Govt Promises $50 Million
Om Patange
3B Nanotechnology
UW Grad Innovator of the Year

Sarah Scharf
2B electrical
Acting Dean Leo Rothenburg
Stuart Pearson
Every party makes promises during elections, some fantastic, some frightening. During his campaign visit to the Waterloo region Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a fantastic promise to the University of Waterloo. He pledged, according to the Conservative party website, if re-elected he would invest in cutting edge computer technology by providing $50 million to the Institute for Quantum Computing This is on top of the $50 million that UW Chancellor Mike Lazaridis has recently pledged and another $50 million granted by the Government of Ontario. UW President David Johnston commends the promise in a news release as a, wonderful pledge of support for UWs world-recognized Institute for Quantum Computing. This isnt the first time IQC has been
showered with funding. It was founded in 2002 with a generous $15 million contributed by many sources including the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Lazaridis. In 2004 Lazaridis reinforced his support by an order of magnitude larger contribution, bringing his total donation to $45.8 million. In 2006, IQC again received a windfall from the Government of Ontario of $50 million. This continual support from these various sources is a testament to the quality of research the academics at IQC produce. At the IQC, the enormous funds are used to purchase state-of-the-art equipment and facilities to allow the building of quantum information devices, as well as to support international collaborations. With the cost factored out of the analysis, academics can think freely of how best to unlock the potential of quantum mechanics. Now, with baited breath, we wait to see this latest promise fulfilled.
Conceptual Model of new Quantum-Nano Centre.
University of Waterloo
On October 21, 2008, Cameron Piron, a UW Systems Design grad, won the R&D Magazines 2008 Innovator of the Year Award. Cameron won this award for his companys breakthrough on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology to improve the accuracy and efficiency of diagnosing breast cancer using MRI. Sentinelle Medical, founded in 2004, is currently 75 employees strong, and still growing. Their technological focus is medical device development, currently specializing in the battle against Breast Cancer. Sentinelle Medicals breakthrough product, the Sentinelle Vanguard Breast MR Auxiliary Table, is used by medical facilities across Canada, and was developed to be used with MRI machines created by other companies such as GE and Siemens. For those of you who are not familiar with how an MRI works, here is a bit more information: an MRI machine is made up 3 main parts, the primary magnet, the gradient magnet, and the coil. The primary magnet is a very large cylindrical electromagnet, which is used to create a magnetic field inside the scanning machine. Gradient magnets are used to adjust the magnetic field more precisely around the part of the body that is being scanned. The field interacts differently with different types of tissue within the body, and each type of tissues atoms will have a unique atomic spin. The coil, the part of the machine that hovers around the part of the body being scanned, emits a radio frequency
to alter the spin of the atoms induced by the field. Based on the frequency required to alter the atom spin, computer software can create an image of the tissue within the human body. Doctors and MRI technicians are trained to be able to read these images and know when tissue is healthy or when there is a problem. Sentinelle Medicals new breast cancer technology improves the way that an MRI machine interacts with the female it is imaging, as well as the software used to create the images. Sentinelle Medical has found a way to improve the stretcher that the patient lays on during an MRI so that it is easier for her lie still, allowing for a more accurate image. The company has also improved upon the MRI coil (the part of the machine that sits close to your body during an MRI scan) to allow for it to sit closer to the female being scanned for breast cancer, furthering the accuracy of the MR image. Sentinelle Medical was founded by Cameron Piron, and was created to continue the work that Mr. Piron was conducting during his time as a student. He graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in Systems Design Engineering and a specialization in medical imaging. He continued to pursue this area of research while completing his Masters at the Medical Biophysics program at University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Campus. The award winning entrepreneur has been working on his MRI Beast Cancer technology for 8 years, and has conducted over 10 000 clinical trials. Visit Sentinelle Medicals website for more information: www.sentinellemedical.com
wednesday, october 29, 2008
Letter from the Editor

Paper, Paper Everywhere!
STUART PEARSON
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Hi everyone! Where has the term gone? Were more than halfway done already. Hopefully midterms didnt take too many years off your life. Things are pretty exciting here at the Iron Warrior- we finally have our new office reorganized and tidied up, and weve finished 3/5 issues for the term. Thanks goes out to the dedicated staff of The Iron Warrior, especially my assistant editors, without whom I would still be trapped in the office, and may have failed my calculus midterm. Im really proud of this issue- we have a lot of really solid content including an interview with Acting Dean Leo Rothenburg about the new Dubai campus. Also worthy of note is the special four-page election centrefold prepared by Chief Returning Officer Jeff Lipnicky for this terms EngSoc elections. There are a lot of outstanding candidates this time, so be sure to read through and choose wisely, as these will be the people to lead you for the next sixteen months. There are also a lot of really great events coming up in the next few weeks, including Halloween, TalEng, Semi-Formal, and more. Hope to see you there! Whats black and white and re(a)d all over? A newspaper! Now that Ive exorcised my terrible pun-demons for the day, Id like to take a serious look at a topic thats near and dear to my heart: paper. We use it every day, especially as students. Its in textbooks, our notes, paper planes, posters, novels and even the newspapers we read during class when we should be paying attention. Some pieces of paper mean to us more than others- your degree (only a few more years) or a love note- versus something that serves a more humble purpose, like toilet paper. Paper has been around for over five thousand years, when the Egyptians started taking bits of papyrus and writing on it. The Mayans and the Chinese made their own paper, and the practice gradually spread through the Middle East to Europe after the Crusades. Modern papermaking is a massive industry that employs thousands of people in Canada who help transform the product from a towering tree to a ream of 8 x 11. One of the saddest things I have ever seen was on the side of a mountain in Scotland. Colossal pine trees covered the hillside in a thick green carpet, all except for a vast, gaping scar where the forest had been clear-cut for logging. The same story was true when I visited British Columbia for a weekend this summer. After the lumber is cut down, it is turned into pulp, from which paper is made. In my experiences, Ive found that pulp and paper mills generally smell pretty bad. Edmunston, New Brunswick
is a lovely little town on the Trans-Cana- One such option that recently caught my da Highway near the Quebec border with eye in the news was a so-called e-book. a large pulp and paper mill in the middle. E-books have been floating around as exThe only caveat: an aroma on par with pensive prototypes for almost eight years a forgotten side of ham, left to its own now, but lacklustre sales have prevented devices in your fridge for a few weeks them from catching on with the public. tends to waft through the air. The paper However, last fall, Amazon released the business certainly isnt the most roman- Kindle, an e-book device that was both tic. The closest that the paper industry relatively inexpensive and carried a wide has come to any sort of celebrity status catalogue of over 80,000 titles. Your fain recent years is through the success of vourite books can be read on its 6 screen the TV show The Office. and there are even newspaper or magaBut now its time to address the issue zine subscriptions available. over which I am Im all in favour torn: wasting pa- Heres my crisis of faith: I hate of trying new techper. As someone wasting paper, and yet I would nology, but heres who makes an efmuch rather read a hard copy where I have a fort to be environslight crisis of than something on a screen. mentally conscienfaith: I hate wasttious, it annoys me ing paper, and yet I to no end when I see people toss paper would much rather reading a hard copy into the trash rather than a recycling bin. than something on a screen. Its really The bulk of waste sitting in our landfills hard to avoid sounding hypocritical, but is actually construction debris and pa- I cant help it. As a life-long lover of per products. Unlike plastic, paper does novels and newspapers, the thought of eventually decompose, but without an reading one of my beloved books by gazadequate supply of air and water, it is ing at a screen is just so unappealing. I difficult to properly break down. This spend so much time on computers that I means that a newspaper trapped in a frequently turn to books just to get away landfill may take thousands of years to from staring at a screen! Besides, nothcompletely biodegrade. Three millen- ing beats that new book smell or the nia from now when people are zipping thrill of cracking open one of your old around in hovercars, this copy of the Iron favourites. Its just not the same! Warrior may still be sitting at the bottom Same thing goes with newspapers. of the Waterloo landfill, perfectly pre- Even as a kid, I would read The Toronto served. In one sense, that kind of longev- Star cover to cover every morning while ity is really amazing. However, thats a eating my breakfast before school. These significant amount of waste that could be days, I dont have a newspaper subscripeliminated simply by taking the time to tion so I still try and keep on top of recycle. things by reading the news online, but it With the advent of computers and sim- just isnt the same! Thats one of my faple electronic communication, much of vourite things about The Iron Warrior- in the need for paper has been eliminated, spite of the decline of print media in rein theory. When everything is so easily cent years, weve hung in there and still available online, is there really any need manage to publish a real newspaper five for a two-thousand-page phone book? times every term. My phone book at home is currently beWhatever you do, when youre fining used to prop up a lamp, and I dont ished with it, dont throw this paper out! think any of my housemates or I have Put it back in a rack for somebody else ever used it for its intended purpose. to enjoy, or at the very least recycle it. On my most recent co-op term, I Our overdependence on paper probably worked in an department of five or six wont stop any time soon, but if we all try people who collectively went through at and make a small difference in our own least a ream of copy paper every day. We lives, we might be able to instigate a real were good about recycling wasted paper, change for the better. but it made me stop and wonder: whatIf you love or hate what you read in this ever happened to the idea of a paper- issue, we want to know! Send us an email less office? Shouldnt email eliminate to iwarrior@engmail.uwaterloo.ca. We the need for printed memos? Those five dont get nearly enough mail these days, hundred page reports could be replaced and we value your opinion. This is, after by a single PDF. We were just one de- all YOUR engineering student newspapartment. If every department of every per, so we want to publish material that office of every company used so much you find interesting or exciting. Harass paper, imagine how much paper gets me in the hallway or come pester me at used around the world every day! the office- I dont bite, I swear! Establishing good recycling programs only goes so far though; it treats merely the symptoms and not the underlying root problems. As a society we need to reduce our paper consumption from the In Chris Togeretzs article, The bottom up, by taking a stand as individuWall, published in the October 11th als and cutting back our personal use of issue, his diagram was not included paper. next to the article. The Iron Warrior Some people have tried to fight the risregrets this error and would like to ing tide of paper consumption by introformally apologize to Chris. ducing technological alternatives to paper.
The Newspaper of the University of Waterloo Engineering Society Editor-in-Chief Stuart Pearson Assistant Editors Michelle Croal David Morris Layout Editor Trevor Jenkins Copy Editor Mikayla Micomonaco Photo Editors Michael Seliske Sylvia Wu Advertising Manager Matthew Casswell Circulation Manager Vacant Web Editor Vacant
Staff Writers
Adriana Cameron Alex Giroux Amanda LeDuc Amir Taleghani Dangerman Erika Janitz Jaclyn Sharpe Joan Ang Jon Martin Jon Radice Leah Siczkar Milena Beloia-Cheres Nicole Copeman Om Patange Rory Arnold Sarah Scharf Sean ONeill Sheldon Fernandes Sunny Ng Tim Bandura Yousif Al-Khder
Contributors
Adam Melnik Brandon Dehart Bryan Sachdeva Chris Togertz Dave Halford Erica Waugh Jeff Lipnicky Megan Campbell Spencer McEwan Tyler Gale Off-Stream Editor-in-Chief Kevin Ling
Correction
Issue #4 Deadline: Friday, November 7, at 6:00pm for publication on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 Send your submissions to iwarrior@engmail.uwaterloo.ca Fall 08 Publication Schedule: October 29, November 12, and November 26
The Iron Warrior is a forum for thought-provoking and informative articles published by the Engineering Society. Views expressed in The Iron Warrior are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Engineering Society. The Iron Warrior encourages submissions from students, faculty and members of the university community. Submissions should reflect the concerns and intellectual standards of the university in general. The author's name and phone number should be included. All submissions, unless otherwise stated, become the property of The Iron Warrior, which reserves the right to refuse publication of material which it deems unsuitable. The Iron Warrior also reserves the right to edit grammar, spelling and text that do not meet university standards. Authors will be notified of any major changes that may be required. Mail should be addressed to The Iron Warrior, Engineering Society, E2 2349A, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1. Our phone number is (519) 888-4567 x32693. Our fax number is (519) 725-4872. Email can be sent to iwarrior@engmail.uwaterloo.ca
Wednesday, october 29, 2008
UW Students Face Extradition from Canada

Charged with Supporting Tamil Tigers Terrorist Group
a Vanni Innovation Group (VIG), a volunteer organization that sends students overseas and teaches Sri Lankan students English, technology, and business. He has won scholarships from TD Canada Trust and the Faculty of Engineering, as well as the CIBC Leaders of Entrepreneurship Award while doing his graduate studies at Wilfrid Laurier University. After traveling to Sri Lanka for a nonpaid co-op work term in 2004 (organized through VIG), Sriskandarajah published an article in the Iron Warrior describing his experiences traveling and living in Northeastern Sri Lanka, where he was born and spent his childhood. The region that Sriskandarajah worked in is known as Vanni, the namesake of the VIG. It is interesting to note that this region is the hot spot of conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers. The Tigers strive to create a homeland for ethnic Tamils in this region, which they call Tamil Eelam. He trained about 600 students in solar panel technology for The Economic Consultancy House, a Sri Lankan NGO active in the northern and eastern provinces of the country. In his article, Sriskadarajah expressed concerns about the lack of technology for the redevelopment of the region. He encouraged IW readers to travel to Sri Lanka to help with education initiatives and experience an eye-opener that helped him to see the bigger picture in life. Sriskandarajah went back to Sri Lanka later that year. This time, he was with 11 other UW students on a foreign aid mission. Their travel coincided with the Boxing Day Tsunami and the students experienced the devastation first-hand. They split up to work in various refugee camps. Sriskandarajah went back to the Vanni region that he was passionate about, and was appalled by the lack of aid that reached the region. Thousands of children were forgotten and ignored simply for being born in the wrong region of the country, he wrote. The political tension in the country contributed to the lack of aid and media presence in the Tamil Tiger-controlled region. After he returned to Canada, Sriskandarajah spoke to various media outlets to expose the uneven distribution of aid and urged the Canadian government to monitor the distribution and ensure that aid is received by those who most urgently need it. Known as Waterloo Suresh by the FBI and overseas Tigers, Sriskandarajah faces the charges of conspiring to buy weapons to help the Tamil Tigers in the Sri Lankan civil war. Further investigation claims that he attempted to buy software that design warships and submarines from the U.K., and night vision goggles from British Columbia, all under the covers of a Sylvia Wu
1T Mechatronics
The University of Waterloo appeared in the Globe and Mail twice in one week: once for its start-up incubator VeloCity, and once for its students extradition ruling. Ramanan Mylvaganam is a Computer Engineering student working on his masters degree. He served as Vice-President Internal of the Waterloo Tamil Students Association (WATSA) in Winter 2004. He also planned on working for Microsofts international head office in Redmond, Washington. What made him a national headline was not linked to these achievements: he has been ordered to extradite to the U.S. on charges of supporting the Tamil Tigers on October 19, 2008. He has 30 days to surrender to U.S. officials or appeal the ruling. A total of twelve men were charged in 2006 for providing material resources to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, better known as the Tamil Tigers. Including Mylvaganam, four of the arrested were linked to the University of Waterloo, as well as the FEDS club WATSA. This led to an independent audit enforced by the university and FEDS of WATSAs financial activities. WATSA was later cleared of charges of mishandling funds. Thirukumaran Sinnathamby, an Electrical Engineering graduate, worked at the San Francisco Microsoft office for two years. He served as president of the aforementioned WATSA while on campus. He is accused of money laundering for the Tamil Tigers as well as smuggling scientific magazines to Sri Lanka. Thirukumaran Sivasubramaniam is a computer science graduate. He served as treasurer and twice as the president of WATSA. Suresh Sriskandarajah, the alleged leader of the men arrested in 2006, was no doubt a star in his undergraduate days and fully possesses the entrepreneurial spirit that the university strives to foster in all of its students. He worked for Microsoft and RIM, and founded media-icon.com, a web design company. He also founded
school project. He also instructed contacts on the smuggling of GPS, laptops and computer parts into Vanni. In 2006, he was arrested in Southern Ontario and was later released on bail, partially based on his positive contributions to the community and a model student reputation. Waterloo professors and KW Tamil community leaders vouched for his character. He will hear an extradition hearing in early 2009.
WIE Tea Party

attempting to write the article, I ran into one insurmountable roadblock: I couldnt think of any good reason not to have a tea party. Yeah its playing into a stereotype, but whats wrong with liking tea? I guess it could be taken as sexist, but what is it implying? The only compelling reason not to call the thing a tea party was that some of the girls that I had talked to, admitted that they didnt necessarily feel comfortable going to a tea party. Ah ha, now I was getting somewhere! Come to think of it, Im pretty sure that if I wasnt the one organising the thing, I wouldnt go for the very same reason. So it comes down to the fact that girls in engineering are uncomfortable being seen as feminine? I havent taken any PSYCH courses, but I would wager that there is still an underlying worry (at least among girls) that being a good engineer and being feminine are incompatible states. That would explain my irrational fear of drinking coolers. In light of this revelation the tea party has taken on a whole new significance for me. It is no longer a joke based on the juxtaposition of macho engineering against the girly notion of a tea party, but a challenge to myself not to see being an engineer and being feminine as mutually exclusive. Of course, Im basing most of this off of my personal experience, so I may be way off the mark. If you disagree with me I look forward to discussing the issue with you over tea and biscuits on November 6th.
Also see IRON CHEF: TEA PARTY SCONES on Page 17
Jaclyn sharpe
4A mechanical
Hi. My name is Jaclyn and Im a girl. Its not exactly a shocking statement, so why do I try so hard to act like it isnt true? I never wear pink, or carry a purse. I dont often drink anything but beer and scotch. And I wouldnt know what do with a makeup kit if I had one. I was going along peacefully in this existence until I started organising a Women in Engineering Tea Party. The idea to have a tea party came to me a few terms ago. At first it was just a joke; how ridiculous to have the women in engineering do something so stereotypically girly! I pitched the idea to a couple of people but rather than laugh at my joke I found that people were genuinely uncomfortable with the concept. The more opposition the idea encountered, the more intriguing it became. If there was no problem with being a woman in an engineering program, then there shouldnt be any reason not to have a tea party. Previously the women in engineering directors had held movie night socials, but the problem emerged that it is hard to socialize while watching a movie. The tea party had an advantage: what better event than to lure people in with tea and cookies, then give them nothing better to do than talk to each other. To pre-emptively refute the seemingly inevitable criticism of our controversial event it was decided that an article should be written for the Iron Warrior. But, upon
Sandford Fleming Foundation
Congratulations to 1st Place - Thomas Haylock of Systems Design Engineering and 2nd Place - Steve Edwards of Software Engineering for their success in the Technical Speaker Competition
E2-3336, ext 84008, sff@engmail.uwaterloo.ca www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/~sff
Jay Ingram Speaks to UW Students About Global Warming

Jon Martin
1A civil
Cool Ideas Come to Waterloo

Discovery Channel. Ingrams talk focused around his new book, The Daily Planet Book of Cool Ideas: Global Warming and What People are Doing About It. Instead of focusing on the science of global warming, something which has been reiterated numerous times since it gained attention, the talk focused on the many ingenious ideas devised by professionals and regular citizens alike. Ingram emphasized that although the big plans and government initiatives have failed so far, the future will rely on small solutions making incremental headway in cleaning up our ravaged environment. Many of the ideas described by Jay Ingram are featured in his book, including a sixteen year old who converted his pick-up truck to an electric vehicle: for only $6000. Jay also spoke about solar vehicles, apologizing for only having a picture of the University of Calgarys solar car (Ingram graduated from the University of Calgary). He did grudgingly mention that the Waterloo solar car, Midnight Sun, finished a recent race far ahead of the University of Calgarys Schulich I solar car. I acknowledge your temporary superiority, Ingram joked - watch out Midnight Sun, you have been chal-
On the evening of October 8, the University of Waterloo, specifically Federation Hall, played host to Jay Ingram. Ingram has introduced and inspired many scientists and engineers through his hosting of the Radio program Quirks and Quarks. For many years Jay Ingram has been the host of Daily Planet, a science and technology based news show on the
Harper Misses Majority, but Gains Ground

Conservative Reign Continues Across the Nation
The election results were nothing but a massive disappointment for the Liberal Party. Having lost 19 seats in the House of Commons, the Libs were nearly shunned from all rural areas in Canada. Only the Maritimes and urban areas in Quebec, BC and Ontario were spotted red this time around, giving them a paltry 76 seats in the house. Many people found that Dion lacked leadership qualities; an image enhanced by Conservative attack ads reminding the voters that Liberals were responsible for the Sponsorship Scandal of yore. Even in our home riding, a Liberal stronghold for the past five election terms, Conservative Peter Braid edged out the long-time incumbent Peter Telegedi by a mere 73 votes. Many Liberal supporters in the area blame Telegedis loss on the increased amount of Green Party supporters, no doubt having higher numbers of converts from the Liberal party than from the Conservatives. The Greens in the area doubled their number of votes this time around, taking home 12% of the popular vote. Jack Laytons NDP put forth very strong effort, grabbing ridings across the country, in a more blended rural-urban spread than the Liberals. Their 37 elected members came from unexpected places; breaking through the Conservative stronghold of Alberta, NDP claimed one spot in urban Edmonton, a first for the party. In addition to that, Laytons party garnered 9 more seats than in the 2006 campaign, a strong indication of the future change in Canadian voting mentality. The Greens had a fairly unimpressive election from the goals they set forth at the beginning of the campaign. With their sights set on becoming represented in the House along with 10% of the popular vote, the Green Party fell short on both accounts. However an increase of 2.33%, the biggest gain of any party this election, shows that the Greens have plenty of fight left. Jon Radice
2B Chemical
lenged! A recurring theme throughout the talk and the book was individual people doing their own parts to help the environment. Numerous housing designs attempt to limit or remove carbon dioxide emissions entirely, through geothermal heating, solar panels (for both electricity and hot water), and passive solar heating. The book is filled with fascinating ideas and innovations; whether they are put into widespread use is unknown, but they do represent the drive and determination to consider all possibilities and alternatives to fossil fuels.
On Tuesday October 14th, Canadas future just got a little more blue. The Conservatives retained their control of the House with 143 seats, just eight away from the coveted majority foothold. Harper gained stronger showings in Ontario, New Brunswick and BC, places where the Conservative Party wanted to gain more ground. The only factor stopping Harper from gaining a majority government was the partys poor showing in Quebec, where they retained the same number of seats as the 2006 election. Gilles Duceppe, leader of the Bloc Quebecois, stated that without the Blocs strong 50 ridings won in Quebec, Harper would have gained a majority of the government.
Looking Back on Oktoberfest

Am I missing something here?
judging by the surprisingly large number of red Mac Eng coveralls and UofT leather jackets, but apparently there was more than one University Night, located at different venues of all things! With that and looming midterms, I called it sabotage. The music of the night was a good mix of polka, oom-pa-pa and modern top 40s (although thankfully not all in the same song). I think that the highlight of the evening was the Gotchky Stuffing Contest, where two teams, consisting of a male and female member each, competed in a portable boxing ring for the title of Sauerkraut-PantStuffing Dynamic Duo. After the bell rang, the teams had about 30 seconds for the female member to stuff as much sauerkraut as physically possible into the pants of the male team member. At the final judging, standing up from the kneelingstuffing position resulted in both guys pretty much losing their pants. In the battle of sauerkraut and gravity versus the elastic waist bands, it was obvious which won, and props to Commando Colin for such a brave performance! Overall, it was a fun night, but I found that the whole thing a bit dissatisfying. I have German heritage through my mother, and yet this whole Oktoberfest thing seemed very clich and strained. Drinks, food and souvenirs were overpriced, and it seemed very much like a touristy trap. A drunk and his money are easily parted type of thing. Maybe its just me; that Im starting to find I need something more enter-
So what does this mean for you? How will this election change your daily life? With an increased majority, the Conservatives will have a slightly easier time passing their motions, only requiring any one partys approval to get motions past. Although people claim that a minority government gets nothing done, minority governments allow for compromises to be made by the party in power, which in turn will require the voice of the opposition. This allows for a more balanced approach when it comes to listening to the will of the people when making laws. And for those of you that didnt vote, I tip my hat to you; this election had the lowest voter turnout of any federal election ever! With only 55% of all eligible voters actually casting a ballot, apathy makes up the largest political mindset in Canada. Unfortunately, those people will have to feel the effect of the party in power just the same as those of us who did vote.
Michelle Croal
2B Chemical
So last week I attended my first official Oktoberfest event, right here in our own once-a-year Bavaria. Last issue Sylvia covered some of the then upcoming events, including opening ceremonies, the famous Thanksgiving Day parade, and the various 19+ evenings at the Festhalle around town, and I promised a follow up article for this issue. (In case you didnt notice, here at the Iron Warrior we like to inform you of events before they happen, then relive them all again in detail afterwards in case you didnt take our advice and go!). Upon arrival at Bingemans, we sort of milled around for a little while, before finally figuring out the beer and food lines. I liked the enthusiasm of the attendees, with an abundance of lederhosen, dirndls and Robin Hood style hats with extra-extra large feathers. Starving as I was, with no food at home, sausage was just what I wanted; the dinner was pretty delicious, despite being rather overpriced. WaMichael Seliske terloo Engineering seemed to Finally, a valid excuse to wear lederhosen! be severely underrepresented,
taining to do with my time than just drink, or the fact that my schoolwork is starting to pile up and my conscience was nagging at me for partying on a Thursday. Or, it could also have been the smell of stale beer and sauerkraut on the dance floor (two of my least favourite eau-de-colognes). In any case, I think I may wait until I find myself in Das Wickliche Deutschland before I attend another Oktoberfest...
MIDDLE EAST EXPANSION Continued from Page 1
Exciting Future for UW in Middle East

that UW will be relying mainly on Canadian companies that are present in Dubai. For instance, SNC-Lavalin has taken on a commitment to providing jobs for several of the Dubai students. In addition, they have contacted one local company, Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority, which supports the university in its new project and is willing to hire co-op students. Accreditation for the new programs has not been a significant issue because the course load will be identical to that of their counterparts in Canada. By ensuring that the Math 116 course offered in Dubai is the same one being taught in the basement of RCH, the university manages to avoid the significant hurdle of requiring extra approval. UW will be enrolling about 50 students into each of the Civil and Chemical Engineering classes in the UAE, and these students will be joining their classmates in Waterloo in 3A, Winter 2012, Dean Rothenburg said. Rather than segregate the Dubai students in separate classes from the original Waterloo students, they will take the same classes together so that they can benefit from each others different experiences. When questioned about the task of finding Teaching Assistants for the courses offered at the Dubai campus, Rothenburg explained that it was one of the trickier issues that they have resolved. The university will be hiring full time graduate students who will work as TAs for multiple courses at a time. When asked about what he hopes that the students from UAE will bring to Waterloo, Dean Rothenburg said that he expects these students will bring a more international culture. This will help UW increase its already-impressive diversity while also helping the school become more internationally involved and globally recognised. He also hoped that students in these 2 programs are not just from the UAE, but from neighbouring countries as well, as this will also contribute to UWs international image in the Gulf region. Finances are always an important issue to university students All students attending the Dubai campus, will pay international fees, including Canadian citizens who decide to study there. Canadian citizen students will pay domestic tuition fees once they are in Canada, although Dean Rothenburg expects that the majority of students in the UAE will hail from the Middle East rather instead. Student culture is a significant aspect of the University of Waterloo experience; our Engineering Society is extremely active and possesses many beloved, long-standing traditions. Asked if EngSoc, WEEF and other societies will be recreated in Dubai, the Dean replied with a resounding Yes!. He believes that it is essential to have such societies at the new campus so
courses taught there will be the same as the ones here, and will be instructed by Engineering faculty from UW. To maintain the high standards of teaching currently found at the University of Waterloo, seven engineering professors will be sent to the UAE. Some of these professors will be spending a term there, while others will be spending up to a year. These professors will not just be teaching engineering courses, but will also be taking on other subjects, such as the mathematics courses. Eventually, the Math Faculty will be taking over these courses once they start their programs in the UAE in 2010. When asked how the new students will be able to connect to the campus here in Canada from the other side of the world, Rothenburg said that UW is working on this issue. They have examined other satellite campuses in the region, such as the Texas A&M University in Qatar, and their chosen methods of dealing with this problem. So far, UW is planning to create a video link between the two campuses. He also hopes that there will be opportunities for students from the Waterloo campus to go to the UAE and help make the ties stronger between the two campuses. This initiative would also include providing more co-op jobs in the UAE. Regarding co-op, he said that it has been one of the most difficult parts of this project, and
Have You Got What it Takes?

genius bowl directors
engsoc A
Genius Bowl XIV
that the students there will become more familiar with UW and have a better idea of what to expect when they finally arrive here. He explained that this can only be achieved by the help of students from the Canadian campus (this might be your chance to go to Dubai!). Naturally, the IW staff were quite hopeful and curious as to whether or not The Iron Warrior would make an appearance in the UAE. Even if a student newspaper is not established in Dubai, article submissions from students there with different perspectives would be an excellent contribution to The Iron Warrior. Given the strong presence of Women in Engineering (WIE) in Waterloo, it is important that such values and positive attitudes be carried over to any new extensions of the University. When asked about the opportunities available for female engineers in Dubai, Rothenburg noted that WIE will definitely be present at the new campus. The percentage of women studying engineering in the United Arab Emirates is approximately 50%, substantially higher than at Waterloo. The future of Dubai looks bright, with extraordinary developments set to continue there for many years to come. By establishing a campus in the Middle East, the University of Waterloo is set to continue its steady growth and become an increasingly bigger player on the world stage.
What do a zipper, O.J Simpson, a goose and Teletubbies have in common? They are all topics that can potentially come up in this terms awesomely amazing Genius Bowl competition. What is Genius Bowl, you ask? Well for all of those not in the know, Genius Bowl is a once-perterm trivia competition that tests your geekiness, random factual knowledge and rewards people for remembering the
weird stuff (Edcom likes the weird stuff, so there will be lots of it). On Wednesday, November 19th, teams from all disciplines will dress up in ridiculouslythemed costumes and show the rest of engineering how much random knowledge they know. Teams consist of five people that can range from a group of friends, a class, or any sort of people that have some kind of random connection. Its free and all you have to do is sign up your team ahead of time on the Orifice door. The sheet will probably be appearing some-
time in the next few weeks so keep reading the Iron Warrior for updates. Also check out the snazzy posters that will start appearing on bulletin boards everywhere. Besides the super fun times you will have at this awesome event, you will also be receiving P**5 points for participation and even more for winning. Before I give you some warm up questions, we do need a few judges to look over the question sheets, so if you would like to be a judge, please email mseliske@engmail. It is always fun to see the hilarious answers peo-
ple come up with when they dont know the answers. Teams will be rewarded for creative and hilarious responses. Now for some warm ups: #1. What NFL franchise has no logo on their helmet? #2. What is the relationship between your daughter and your first cousins grandson? #3. What is the name of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki? Check out the next issue of IW for the exciting answers and more warm-ups!
Sandford Fleming Foundation
Sanford Fleming Debates
November 3,4 & 5 from 11:30am to 1:00pm

EIT 3145 (Nov 3, 5) CPH 2371 (Nov 4) Finals outside POETS in CPH November 7 at noon. Refreshments served at finals. The Foundation has established the Sandford Fleming Debates in order to encourage the art of debate among engineering undergraduates. Each term, there will be one faculty wide competition. Members of the winning teams will be selected to represent University of Waterloo at the annual Ontario Engineering Competition.
Register for the debates by sending an email to Professor Jeffrey at sajeffre@engmail.uwaterloo.ca. Include your name, department and contact information. Professor Jeffrey will try to accommodate any conflicts you might have but be prepared to participate on any of the dates.
Prize money
1st Place -$300 to each team member 2nd Place - $150 to each team member
E2-3336, ext 84008, sff@engmail.uwaterloo.ca www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/~sff
An Illusionary Bubble
are my family here and little by little Im connecting to their lives. Last weekend Mrs. Boniface took me on a tour of the During my five years in Engineering dry-season garden shes growing as part at Waterloo, Id often find myself com- of an irrigation scheme supported by a pletely within the Waterloo bubble. At local NGO and the other day she told me times my world consisted only of the about the 15 HIV positive neighbours lab, the Systems hallway, the EWB of- she cooks for as a home-care volunteer. fice and Kismet. Things outside the bub- One night her daughters kept me up late ble seemed far away and it was always teaching me the dances for a local weda bit of a shock when events from the ding, but Im usually in bed by 8, along outside world (like the time I forgot my with the rest of the village. Economic moms birthday) broke through the bub- upheavals seem far away. ble. I was reminded of that feeling this But that distance is an illusion - world past weekend when I viscrises and trends affect my ited my good friend from family in this quiet village. That distance is work, Loti. Loti has a TV an illusion - world The rise in the price of oil and after a few weeks of is one reason why the price crises and trends living without electricity of the fertilizer that Mrs. affect my family in Boniface needs for her in my little village house, I this quiet village. was looking forward to inmaize fields shot up from dulging. I switched on the 4000 kwacha per bag last international news station year to 11,000 kwacha this and was actually shocked to realize they year, putting it nearly out of her reach. were still talking about - were fixated on, All four of the countries to experience really - the financial crisis. a financial crisis in the past 20 years Of course I had already heard all about dropped their foreign aid by at least 10 the crisis, but at that moment I realized percent, and if that happens worldwide, talk about it must be so much more om- the funding for NGO projects like the nipresent in Canada then it is in my dai- micro-irrigation scheme that helped Mrs. ly life here. The Malawian newspapers Boniface create her garden may disapcover it but their headlines are mostly pear. I can joke about my $0 salary, but captured by the roll-out of the national Mrs. Boniface is so much more vulnersubsidized fertilizer program and the po- able; her ability to continue sending her litical jockeying taking place in the run girls to school, growing enough maize to up to next years presidential election. feed her family and having the time to The effects of the crisis seem distant to care for sick neighbours will weaken if me personally, since my salary is already she cant afford fertilizer for her fields or zero. And lately the bubble of my life loses the support of local organizations. hasnt seemed to include bank bailouts Global troubles are coming a lot closer to and stock markets. this Malawian village than I realized. At the end of every day I walk home Megan graduated from Systems Defrom the field office for half an hour down sign Engineering in 2007 and is cura dirt road to the village of Kankudza. rently working in Malawi on a two-year Usually I sit on the front step of the small placement with Engineers Without Bortin-roof house I rent from the Boniface ders. This is her third article in a series family reading my Chichewa lesson book on her life in Malawi - for more stories until the light fades, then head across the (including how she accidentally crossed road to the Bonifaces house. Mrs. Boni- the Mozambican border, how she had a face, her sister, her two daughters and I rooster as a roommate, and how she is squeeze into her kitchen hut, cook and eat increasingly fascinated with human exdinner around her fire, share stories from crement) see whereismegan.blogspot. the day and laugh at my Chichewa. They com. Megan Campbell
Systems Design 07
Rowan Atkinson: More Than Meets the Eye

sheldon fernandes
1a systems
Mr. Be-an-Engineer
Mr. Bean. Blackadder. Johnny English. Enrico Pollini (Rat Race). If any of these names are familiar to you, you know who Rowan Atkinson is. So to all who doubt the creativity of the engineer (I must confess, I have several times been in doubt after rounds of technical classes), youll be pleased to learn that Rowan Atkinson originally headed into Engineering. Atkinson gained a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Newcastle University, and continued with an MSc in Engineering Science at Oxford. It was only when he met Richard Curtis, an English student and future comic writer, that Atkinson turned to comedy and acting. Is it so hard to believe though? If you read my article How is a Musician Like an Engineer? from the previous issue, you might agree that there is quite a bit of overlap between artists (whether musician, actor, visual artist, etc.) and engineers. In order to do as thorough a job as possible,
Halloween Happenings
Halloween Directors
EngSoc A
anyone working in the film industry for example must be aware of all the steps taken in order to create the film, from pre-production to filming to post-production to release. Both internal and external factors must be considered, much like in engineering. Atkinson also has a hand in diverse aspects of show business - he has worked as a comedian, a TV actor, a film actor, but also as a producer, director, and writer. This tells me that he sees his work through the big picture, a very important aspect of an engineers job. Here is a direct quote from Atkinson that effectively displays this point of view: Mr. Bean is essentially a child trapped in the body of a man. All cultures identify with children in a similar way, so he has this bizarre global outreach. And 10-year-old boys from different cultures have more in common than 30-year-olds. As we grow up, we acquire this sensibility that divides us. Its also very important to note that Atkinson thoroughly understands exactly how much work must go into engineering. After all, as he once put it through his characters mouth in Rat Race, how many times have you heard I make a joke to make you forget how screwed you are!
So Halloween is this weekend and we, as your Halloween committee, wanted to give you a heads up of all the great events weve got planned for you! On Thursday October 30th starting at 11:45 AM, there will be a special Halloween-themed Enginuity with lots of candy! The festivities really kick into gear on Friday October 31st. Come out to see the CPH
Foyer all decorated and to watch a pumpkin pie-eating contest! There will also be pumpkin carving, bobbing for apples, and more candy! For all you Plummers graduating in 2012, come out to the CPH Foyer at 12:15 for a special 2012 costume contest organized by the 2012 year spirit directors! Hope to see you all out in costume! Your Halloween Committee, Adriana, Nicole, and Tim
Bridging the Gap Between School and Work Term Experiences

Chris togeretz
4n civil
The Wall: Part II
In the last edition of the Iron Warrior I was talking about an imaginary wall that can slow down interaction (learning) between your engineering courses and your work terms. Here is one of the comments I received about that topic: Where is the diagram??? - Me Here is what it should look like, at the
bottom of the page. Obviously, it would be great if someone could do something about getting rid of this wall! As it turns out, the Waterloo Cases in Design Engineering group (WCDE) is trying to remove the wall between work terms and school terms by bringing work-term experiences into classrooms. How? By converting suitable work term reports into case studies! Check out the awesome flowchart be-
What is The Wall?
Breaching the wall low that explains it all! Im not sure what direction youd like Both as a WCDE co-op student and as me to take for the next article, so Ill an engineering student, Im really ex- leave that up to you! I have a few ideas cited that skills that students learn in the - email me (design@design.uwaterloo. workplace can benefit entire classes of ca) with your vote on the next article. future students; and Im also thrilled that 1) A smallish engineering design case by the use of case studies in the class- study - with some awesome problems or room, the course material is presented questions for you to chew on! as something so much more useful. 2) A detailed explanation of how case Do you want to help out? Submit your studies converted from work reports can work term reports! Its quick and you benefit students, co-op, industry, and and your employer will be contacted if professors. wed like to make a case study out of it 3) A short survey about what you think - just visit cases.uwaterloo.ca. about work term reports!
Mo About Movember
Change the Face of Mens Health
marissa bale
2t chemical
Engineering, information and free cookies

Sarah Scharf
2B Electrical
Go Eng Girl!
Movember 1st is soon to be upon us, and I would like to take this opportunity to give you all a little more information on Movember. Information on Movember itself and terms used is available in the previous issue of the IW. First off, the rules: 1. Once registered, each Mo Bro must start November 1st with a clean shaven face. 2. Then, for the entire month of Movember, each Mo Bro must grow and groom his moustache according to these rules: a. There are no beards i. A Mo has no bottom ii. There is to be no joining the Mo to the side burns thats a beard. b. There are no goatees i. There is to be no joining of the handlebars - thats a goatee c. A small complimentary growth under the bottom lip is allowed (aka a tickler). Movember culminates in a fabulous Gala Part. Ours will be held at EOT. At the party, Mo Bros and Mo Sistas are encouraged to dress up - the Mo Bros to suit their Mos, and the Mo Sistas to suit their Mo Bros. Prizes will be awarded in the follow-
ing categories: 1. The Lame Mo (or Invisible Mo) 2. Best Mo in Character 3. Best Mo Bro with his Mo Sista 4. Man of Movember (or Best Mo) More categories may be added as the party approaches, so keep an eye out for that. At the last EngSoc meeting, Dave Halford (the VPX) announced that if $5000 could be raised before the first EngSoc meeting in November, he would recreate the ridiculous and super-sketchy handlebars he had going on last fall term. So, you know, if you want to see this (I certainly dont), make sure to hand in any money youve raised so far to me by 4:30pm on that day so that I can count it up and he can shave if he has to. More information is available at http://ca.movember.com, or email me at mbale@engmail.uwaterloo.ca. If you would like to register to be on our Movember team, go to http://ca.movember. com/ca/register and follow the steps. Once registered youll be sent all the information you need to get donations and get growing as part of our Movember team. Youll need these details to register online: -Captains registration number: 1334741 -Captains email address: mbale@engmail.uwaterloo.ca We challenge you to change the face of mens health.
Come to This Terms Semi-Formal!

Semi-Formal Directors
EngSoc A
Midnight in Paris
This years WIE Go Eng Girl event was a huge success. 82 excited girls ranging from grade 7-10 and 82 hopeful parents registered for the day of engineering filled fun. The girls were welcomed Saturday morning by Amit Chakma, the VP of UW Academics and Provost, as well as a keynote speaker, Cat Coode. Ms. Coode is a 2001 Electrical Engineering Graduate form UW, and now is a manager at Research In Motion. After the introduction to engineering, the girls went to work making some engineering creations while their parents listened to some females from the industry. Girls from grades 7 and 8, of which there were 49, built an earthquake proof structure, while the other 33 girls, who are currently in grades 9 and 10 worked on a small scale wind turbine. Both of the groups were given instructions and worked in teams to make their ideas come to life. Activity coordinators tested the girls constructions to demonstrate to the girls the results of their work. The speakers that the parents listened to while their daughters were engineering up a storm were Diane Freeman (Civil 92), Environmental Engineer, Conestoga-Rovers & Associates Limited, Sara Raichyk (Systems Design 07), Management Consultant, McKinsey & Company, and Phil Bezaire (Physics 05), Associate Director of Admissions for Waterloo Engineering. Once the morning activities were wrapped up, the girls joined with their
Lectures, assignments, labs, tutorials, extra help sessions, midterms, quizzes, studying, technical reports, finals... Such is the university life. The path you have chosen is quite demanding and mentally draining at times. But you will grin and bear it. Why? Three reasons: 1) to graduate from the BEST engineering university, 2) to get an amazing job through coop, and last but not least, 3) to get your iron ring in 4th year. (And no one said you couldnt have tons of fun while doing it!) EngSoc is here to help you achieve your quota of weekly fun. On Friday, November 14th, wine and dine in the company of your friends and classmates and dance the night (and post-midterm stress) away at Midnight in Paris, this terms engineering semi-formal dance. Come to the Festival Room at South Campus Hall and experience the atmosphere of France without leaving the country, let alone the comfort of the UW campus. Semi-formal is an opportunity to expe-
rience what the faculty of engineering has to offer outside of the classroom. With an appearance by The Tool and the Toolbearers, it is more than just your average dinner/dance. It is a chance to mingle with fellow engineers and impress everyone with your classy sense of fashion and unique dance moves. Its also a great chance for Frosh to hang out with upperyears. Male engineers: if you need an added incentive to show up, Architecture will be coming to semi, and that means more girls! Three ticket options will be made available: Dinner and dance costs $30 and must be purchased by Tuesday, November 4th. Tickets to just the dance can be purchased in advance for $15 or at the door for $17. Tickets will be available in the CPH foyer at lunch from 11:30-1:30, or in the Orifice during the rest of the day. On the night of the event, doors will open at 6:30pm and the party will continue until 1:00am. Dont forget your Watcard! Hope to see you at semi-formal. We will be waiting patiently under the Eiffel Tower!
New Guidance in a Time of Change

Jon martin
1a civil
parents to enjoy a free lunch in the South Campus Hall Festival Room. After lunch, the group had a chance to participate in a question and answer session with a panel of 5 female engineering students from UW Engineering. The panellists ranged from 1A all the way up to 4A, and were from varying disciplines, one each from Systems, Electrical, Environmental, Software, and Civil. The panellists answered questions such as how they figured out they wanted to be in engineering, what they do for fun, and why they choose Waterloo Engineering. After the Q&A session was completed, the girls and parents had the opportunity to visit a few booths from students teams and on campus organizations. The feedback from the girls and parents was that they really enjoyed the event, and thought it was well done. Not only is it an opportunity for young girls to visit engineering schools and learn about what engineering has to offer, it is also a place for female engineering students to get together and work towards a common goal. 24 female student volunteers helped to run this event, and WIE is hoping to increase this number for next year. WIE is a great place to meet other females in the industry, and they provide professional development, volunteer opportunities, and is a great way to network. If youd like more information on this event or other ways to get involved with Women in Engineering, visit their website at http://www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/wie/index. html or email the WIE coordinator, and the organizer of Go Eng Girl, Sabine Kawalec, at skawalec@engmail.uwaterloo.ca. WIE faculty event information can also be found at http://www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/wie/ About/join.html
Waterloo recently saw the appointment of a new Chancellor, Prem Watsa, a leader of Canadian business. As the 9th Chancellor of UW, Prem Watsa will be responsible for bestowing degrees and diplomas on graduates, as well as presiding over ceremonies. Watsa will begin his duties as chancellor on May 1, 2009, taking over from Mike Lazaridis. Watsa was born in Hyderbad, India in 1950. He graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, also earning an MBA from the University Of Western On-
WEEF Report
tario: Richard Ivy School Of Business. He is also a chartered Financial Analyst. Watsa is also extensively involved in many prominent organizations, including the Royal Ontario Museum and the Hospital for Children. In addition to awarding diplomas, Watsa is charged with advising and leading the university in the coming years. Watsa is particularly suited to this task, as he is the founder, chief executive officer, and chairman of Fairfax Financial Holdings in Toronto. As Waterloo enters its sixth decade, the future holds many plans for expansion, and redefinition of the university. Watsas experience and available guidance will be a valuable resource in the coming years.
brandon dehart
weef director
Alrighty folks, the time has come to make the improvements *YOU WANT* to the labs and classes *YOU CHOOSE*. Its proposal submission time, and theyre due on Monday, November 3rd. All of the information you will need to fill in and submit a proposal for new lab equipment, student teams, improvements to fourth year rooms, etc. can be found on the WEEF website: www.weef.uwaterloo.ca And now for a new initiative: I want every single one of you to be looking out in your labs for WEEF stickers on the equipment, on the doors, on cabinets holding
sponsored equipment, all of it. If it doesnt have a WEEF sticker on it, ask the lab instructor(s) if the item(s) had WEEF funding. There has been a large lack of stickering going on and I want to make sure that every piece of equipment that was paid for by students is visibly recognized. If it was sponsored by WEEF and there isnt recognition somewhere on the part or on the container for the part, there are stickers available in the Orifice at the front desk. This goes for lab instructors and graduate students as well. For those of you that are extremely ambitious, there is a record of the past pu chases made by WEEF. Feel free to check the history and make sure that labs you use are giving YOU, the students that are contributing to your own education, the credit that you deserve.
Engineering Society Executive Reports
Presidential Report
Tyler Gale
PRESIDENT
VPI Report
Sarah Scharf
Vp Internal
Heres hoping everyone had a great midterm season. Ive got a few noteworthy items for your reading pleasure. Middle of Term Pub Night Once every seven years the inconceivable happens MOT and Halloween coincide! And it just so happens that this year is one of those years. Were mixing things up a little bit for MOT this time around to make sure that everyone gets their piece of the pie. POETS will be open, serving, and hosting a visit from our friend The Tool between the hours of 7 and 9:30pm. Buses will then be leaving for Cambridge (From the DWE parking lot) to join the Architecture Halloween party. For those of you who havent heard, architecture has been throwing this Halloween party for years and it has gained quite a reputation for being epic. Buses will be returning to campus late in the evening, but if youre concerned about bus timing, there are regular GRT buses which run to Cambridge as well. Be sure to sport your costume!
VPEd Report
Call for volunteers UW Thank-YouA-Thon 2008 Every year the university orchestrates a huge phone party to thank all of the people who have made donations to contribute to the schools success over the past year. Its happening November 8th from 11:30am to 5pm, and the call has gone out for engineering students to help out. I volunteered last year and it was pretty cool to be having conversations with a bunch of successful alumni. If youre interested please contact Robin Jardin, the student relations office in the deans office (rjardin@engmail.uwaterloo.ca). Lunch and refreshments will be provided throughout the day, and if you can only help out for part of the day that works too. Find Out More The best way to hear about whats been happening and whats up and coming with the engineering society is to join us at the council meetings: Council meeting 4: Oct. 29th 2008 Council meeting 5: Nov. 12th 2008 They always happen Wednesday evenings, at 5:30pm, in CPH 3385. Dinner is always provided, and they are generally a good balance of information, hilarity and good times.
Jeffrey Lipnicky
vp education
It has been a while. Have you missed me? I have missed you. Ive been lonely. Hopefully now that midterms are over with, everyone can come back out and show me some love. Woohoo! Speaking of midterms: why not submit them to the Exam Bank? We are in the process of making some major updates to the bank, and the more exams we get, the merrier. So submit those exams (with prof solutions if you have them) for others to benefit from! On the PDEng front, there are a few items of information for you all. First, I will be presenting some statistics at an upcoming EngSoc meeting on the student performance in the various courses over the past few years. Also, there has been an issue on QUEST where PDENG courses have been removed from a students transcript. If you check your QUEST and there you are missing a PDENG course, contact the PDEng Office or myself to correct the issue.
Now onto the independent review: there is no change from my last report. So, as promised, I shall be delivering a letter to the Deans outlining the students displeasure with the inaction of the Faculty on this issue. This review has taken significantly longer than the initial timeline presented to the students, and an explanation from the Dean is required on this issue. I shall be pressing this issue with the Deans Office and I will be reporting back to the students on any developments. Lastly, the issue of counselling services. Over the past while, this project has taken the back burner in place of the EngSoc elections, my academics, and my mental health. However, you should all have received the petition forms by this point and hopefully already had your class fill them out. I will be preparing my submission to the Dean in the very near future and when it is ready, I will solicit your input on the topic. If you have any ideas on how we can improve the support available to students, please send them my way. In other news: come out to TalEng. I hear that some funny is going to be there. It might even include unicorns. You will have to come to find out.
Hey everybody! Remember Engineering Society? They run events and activities to help students relax and unwind? Well, were back! We gave you some time off from craziness to focus on studying for midterms, but now that those are in the past, the events will be coming your way once again! We have a ton of great events coming up, so make sure you make it out to as many as you can. Engineering Society Council Meeting #4 is tonight at 5:30 pm in CPH3385. Come out and learn about whats going on in Engineering in the last weeks of term, and enjoy some free dinner! In case you cant make it to the meeting tonight, heres the 411 on the up and coming activities around EngSoc. Thursday, October 30, 2008 is Enginuity #3! Details will follow in the form of posters from Tim Bandura, but I will let you in on a secret about this Enginuity. There will be candy! Friday, October 31, 2008 is Halloween! My super awesome Halloween committee (Tim Bandura, Nicole Copeman and Adriana Cameron) has been working hard planning some great events for you to enjoy to get into the Halloween spirit. There is going to be a pumpkin carving contest, a pie eating event, a 2012 Year Spirit costume contest, and a Halloween MOT. Come out
and enjoy the fun! Tuesday November 4th is TalEng. This event is where engineering students show off their non-engineering talents to entertain their friends. TalEng will be happening at Bomber this term, and it is an all ages event. Along with the priceless entertainment, there will be free food. Your executive team will be putting on an extra special surprise performance at this falls TalEng, so you should do your best to make it there. If you have a talent that you want to show off, the signup sheet is up on the Orifice door. Our spectacular Midnight In Paris Engineering Semi Formal is also coming up soon. This magical night will be on Friday, November 14th, and tickets are now on sale! For more information on this event, please see the article in this issue of the IW about this terms Semi Formal. My Athletics Directors are ramping things up for November as well. They will be hosting a cricket tournament (November 8th), a dodgeball tournament (November 15th), and more! I think that that is a ton of great events coming up, so I wont overwhelm you with more. Posters advertising each of these events will be up soon if they are not already. As always, if you have comments, questions or concerns, or if you just want to chat, send me an email, or come and visit me in the orifice! I hope everyone is having fun so far, and there is tons more fun to be had before this term ends. Dont miss out!
VPX Report
Dave Halford
VP External
Hello A-soc, I hope that everyones midterms went well, I know that Im happy that what will hopefully be my last Hell Week ever is finally over. I only have a few points to mention this week. 1. The month of November will officially be known as Movember. Thats right! During the month of November Eng Soc will be participating in a charity event to raise funds for the Prostate Cancer Research Fund of Canada. Participants will start clean shaven on November 1st and will grow moustaches throughout the month in order to change the face of mens health. Pledge forms are available in the orifice and if $5000 is raised before the First Eng Soc meeting in November I will grow the sketchy stache pictured above. In the past Eng Soc has raised sums around $35000 during similar initiatives so I hope that we
can raise large sums again. 2. Applications for the National Conference on Women in Engineering have been emailed out over the Eng Soc mailing list. This conference will be held at the University of Western Ontario on Nov. 22-23. Email me for more informaton. 3. The Canadian Federation of Engineering Students (CFES) is looking for volunteers for many of their initiatives, the most notable being volunteers to help organize the Canadian Engineering Leadership Forum Summit to me held in Montreal during May of next year as well as volunteers to help organize the International Engineering Competition which will be a joint venture between CFES, BEST, and Bonding (both are European Student Technology bodies). More information and other volunteer opportunities can be found at. http://www.cfes.ca/ebulletin/Oct-21-2008. Thats all that I have for this week. Good luck to those running in the Eng Soc election. Cheers, Dave
VPF Report
Adam Melnik
vp finance
Potential electronic billboard installation sites.
Thank you to everyone who submitted Donations Proposals. It was great to be able to offer $2500 in donations this term. Im sure the funds will be put to use well! One initiative the Engineering Society is working on is the installation of five electronic billboards outdoors on engineering buildings. The billboards will
be similar to the Event-A-Tron in the CPH Foyer. Below is a map of campus indicating the proposed locations. Two billboards will face opposite directions on the DWE rounded stick-out, two on the RCH rounded stick-out, and one in the CEIT/E3 throughway. See the diagram to the left for more information. I would like to hear your opinions on this placement strategy. Please feel free to contact me at asco_vpf@engmail.uwaterloo.ca to give your input! White and red 0.6L SIGG bottles are now available in Novelties along with Waterloo Engineering scarves!
This insert is officially affiliated with the University of Waterloo Engineering Society and is endorsed by the Chief Returning Officer
Referendum Details on back cover of insert
The Candidates
see inside for complete platform details
Sarah Scharf Anish Bhutani Jessica Friesen David Liu David Morris
President
2B Electrical Engineering
Vice President, Education

2A Chemical Engineering
Vice President, Education Vice President, Education
2B Geological Engineering
2B Mechatronics Engineering

Mike McCauley Tim Bandura Paul Fugere Jay Shah Eric Cousineau
Vice President, External
2B Mechatonics Engineering
Vice President, Internal

2A Mechanical Engineering
Vice President, Finance

2A Electrical Engineering

2B Computer Engineering
WEEF Director
Thursday October 30th @ 11:30 AM All Candidates CPH Foyer Bring your questions! Bring your friends! Its the perfect lunch date! Forum
- Special Election & Referendum Insert -
President
Sarah Scharf
I would like to maximize the amount of engineering student involvement in the KW community through charity and volunteerism. I will work to maintain and grow our strong, progressive relationship with the Faculty of Engineering. I would like to encourage friendship with other faculties students and their societies. I would like to collaborate with other organizations on campus to bring successful entrepreneurs, politicians, researchers, and general industry experts to give seminars at our school. Ultimately, my goal will be to represent the interests of every single member of the Engineering Society as much as possible. In part this includes ensuring that all of your elected Engineering Society leaders are held accountable to do their best, and to facilitate continuity with the outgoing and future executives.

Anish Bhutani
2A Chemical Engineering
I want to work with PDEng to continue making improvements to better the image of PDEng for prospective students and ease the workload for current co-op students whilst the independent review progresses. I want to work with CECS to help all engineering students improve their resumes getting upper year students involved and starting a resume bank and raise awareness of opportunities from the university to improve interview skills. I want to promote and improve EngSoc services, such as the Exam Bank, and increase awareness of services offered by the Faculty of Engineering and the university that have been paid for but not used by students. As an academic representative since my 1A term, I want to work with other academic reps to help promote services offered at the university, as well as the EngSoc Exam Bank and help them find more ways to get involved with their class Accountability; I want to be around to hear YOUR concerns, as there are numerous problems in classrooms and the university that I am still not aware of.
Jessica Friesen
2B Geological Engineering
PDEng - I intend to continue Jeffs work with the PDEng independent review so that PDEng is more useful for students while on co-op. Counselling Services - I believe that getting more counselors and reducing wait times in Engineering Counselling should be on the forefront of my duties. I also would like to see more advertisement for stress management, study and time management workshops offered by both Engineering and University of Waterloo counselling. Debt Load Surveys - I would like to see the return rate of debt load surveys increase to 50% from 15% (Winter 2008 return rate) by making personal class visits to emphasize their importance, as well as to answer any questions. Accountability - This is a very important aspect for any EngSoc executive. I intend to be accountable by being in the Orifice often, answering my emails promptly and being available for one on one or group meetings.
David Liu
Education is something Im passionate about. I will make sure your education needs are met in every aspect I have been WEEF TA for 2 coop terms and academic rep for 2011 Trons; so I see areas for improvement. Work together with the directors to ensure the course critiques, resume critiques, Exam Bank and all services are comprehensive and timely. Improve the implementation of PDEng by making the students opinions heard! Work in-cooperation with the Undergraduate Engineering Office to improve the extra help sessions for 1st year engineering courses. Stay on top of things and be around, if you need anything no matter how small, I will get back to you within 24 hours.
David Morris
Show the same level of dedication, enthusiasm, and professionalism that Ive shown in the past for the Iron Warrior. Keep a blog which includes updates, reporting each meeting, etc. in order to improve transparency and increase awareness. Try my best to represent students opinions by emphasizing the class reps role and by being aware of my own biases. Work with administration to try to minimize the impact of PDEng on your work terms, and improve its overall value as a course. Get feedback about midterms and finals, and communicate that feedback to professors in order to improve equality of testing. Communicate with past VP Education executives for ideas, and to ensure that any long-term projects or initiatives that they started continue to be implemented.
Vice President, External

Mike McCauley
Improve transparency and communication between Society members and external organizations. Encourage student involvement by increasing awareness of opportunities that are available outside of the Engineering Society at the provincial and national levels. Create an environment of approachability by spending time and being available in the Orifice. Expand the reach of the Student Teams by informing Society members about their successes at competitions and future plans. Lastly, my involvement in provincial and national student societies has allowed me to develop a network within the engineering student body that will allow me to represent Waterloo A-Soc with a strong voice.
Vice President, Internal

2A Mechanical Engineering
Tim Bandura
Im very enthusiastic and honest Plummer, and Im willing do my best as Vice President, Internal Increase Advertising for Events I want to provide my directors with more aggressive advertising. This includes brighter posters, large banners, and megaphones. Assistance for Directors I want to give my directors the support they need, when they need it. I want to be available to provide guidance and opinions and well as the ability to provide what my directors need to successfully run their events. Available for YOU If you have ideas on how to improve current events or even create new ones, I want to help you develop your ideas.

2A Electrical Engineering
Eric Cousineau
Financial Director, Novelties Employee, Jazz Band Treasurer and Section Leader, Class Rep Since 1A (Relevant Experience) Strong time management skills from balancing school and extracurricular activities. As well as an enthusiastic self starting nature shown from my experience as Finance Director (Characteristics) Will improve the efficiency as well as the public awareness of Novelties through advertising campaigns and reorganization of policies; Add more hours for Novelties (eg. Fridays 4:30 6:30); New appealing and practical items (Mechanical Pencils, and Funny T-Shirts); Will run a large investigation asking students what they want from Novelties Will investigate the addition of 5 electronic billboards around the engineering buildings; Revamp the EventA-Tron so that its easier to use Will increase transparency of finance by publishing reports after meetings with breakdown of budget
2B Computer Engineering
Paul Fugere
Having held the directorships of Novelties and Finance Director it allows me to know is to be expected of both me and my directors I am currently working with B-Soc VP Finance, Scott Rankin, and Mary to get EngSoc Hip Flasks I want to make Novelties a more pleasant experience by making items better displayed and cleaning up the clutter I will be accountable and available to everyone and anyone I will continue maintaining the fiscal responsibility of my predecessors while ensuring that directors get what financial support they need
WEEF Director
Jay Shah
Digitalize WEEF Records, and increase ease of access to funding information Acquire/Deploy a large digital (real-time) counter to proudly display the funds principle, and other awesome stats Continue and promote the WEEF is Good campaign. Acquire and build on the awesome WEEF branded apparel. (More T-Shirts, Patches, Bandanas etc!) Increase awareness about WEEF and its importance in UW Engineering Community
Any questions or comments with the election/referendum should be directed to the Chief Returning Officer (Jeffrey Lipnicky, jmlipnic@engmail.uwaterloo.ca)
The Referendum
Do you agree that the Engineering Society Fee should be raised to $16 in Summer 2010?
Yes or No
At Joint Council this past July, a motion was passed that called for the above question to be posed as a referendum for all Engineering Society Members. Since there is an election this term, the referendum will coincide with these proceedings. The process of the referendum is really quite simple: answer Yes or No to the question. Since individuals only volunteered to head the Yes Campaign, and it would be unfair to only have one side of the issue represented, there will be no campaigning on this issue. For more information on the reasons behind this motion, please consult the Joint Council meeting minutes on the EngSoc website. Also, you can contact the Chief Returning Officer (Jeffrey Lipnicky, jmlipnic@engmail.uwaterloo.ca) with any questions you might have. Please note that the CRO will only answer questions related to the procedure and facts; he will not comment on either side of the issue. Here are the answers to a few common questions: Do both societies vote on this? Yes. Since we are the first on-stream term, we are the first to vote on the question. However, if the question fails (i.e. the majority of responses indicate No) then there will not be a referendum on B-Soc in the winter. What is the motivation behind this fee increase? It has been argued that the EngSoc fee has not increased since 2003 and should be raised in order to keep up with inflation and allow the Society to run more (and better) events. How do I vote? Voting will be occurring online. Check your email (as registered in QUEST) for more information on November 1st. The voting will open on November 1st and close at 4:30 PM on November 4th. If you dont get an email, please contact the CRO.
TALENG
The Termly Engineering Talent Show
@ the Bomber
Tuesday, November 4th 7:30 PM

Election results will be announced live!
How the Election Works
New this term, the Engineering Society election and referendum will be taking place online! The switch from paper ballots will make things easier for the CRO, the candidates, and the Engineering Society. Also, the process will be easier and has the potential to increase voter turnout. With this new system, each Engineering Society member will receive an email with instructions on how to cast their votes in the election. The email will be sent during the voting period, so it will be as simple as clicking the link, casting your vote, and continuing on with their lives. Quick and painless! The way that voting should be! Since this is the first time we are trying to do the election online, there might be some unexpected circumstances, however, we will make sure that they do not affect the integrity of the process. The candidate that receives the most votes will be declared the winner. In the event of a tie, the CROs vote (which has been cast previously and is contained in a sealed envelope) shall decide the winner. In the event that the CROs vote does not break the tie (i.e. if there are more than 2 candidates in contention), then the race shall be re-run. In all other circumstances, the CROs ballots shall be destroyed. For positions with only one candidate running (in this election, they are President; Vice President, External; Vice President, Internal, and; WEEF Director), they shall be acclaimed to the position pending a 2/3 majority vote of the Engineering Society council at the October 29th meeting (pending quorum). If you do not receive an email from the CRO by Monday, November 3rd, please contact him in order to resolve the situation. Please note that the email will be sent to the email address you have registered in QUEST. If at any time, you have any questions or concerns about the election, please contact the Chief Returning Officer (Jeffrey Lipnicky, jmlipnic@engmail.uwaterloo.ca).
Election and Referendum
Engineering Society A
NOW ONLINE
November 1st - November 4th at 4:30 PM
Check your email as listed on QUEST
if you do not receive an email by Monday, November 3rd, please contact the Chief Returning Officer (Jeffrey Lipnicky, jmlipnic@engmail.uwaterloo.ca)
NEW
WO
!!!
W!!
13
Hot Knowledge, Fresh Out of the Oven

Spencer McEwan
ESSCO VP COMMUNICATIONS
The World of ESSCO
CECS November Events

Co-operative Education and Career Services
University of waterloo
The fall term is well underway, and we over at the Engineering Student Societies Council of Ontario (ESSCO) have been keeping ourselves very busy! We trust that all of you have been working diligently and also partying hard. As a quick introduction, my name is Spencer McEwan, and I am the Vice President Communications for ESSCO for the 2008-2009 year. I am in third year at the University of Waterloo B, and I am studying electrical engineering. Lets get caught up to speed on what ESSCO has been working on. Watch your step, because I am about to drop some knowledge. Firstly, we would like to formally announce Stephen Lake as our new Vice President Services. Stephen is a student at the University of Waterloo B, and was elected in late September. He has some great initiatives that he is planning, including the idea of producing a television commercial to promote engineering as a profession. The goal is to have it aired across Ontario, and stir up some interest from high school students. If anybody is interested in working with Stephen on a video that could potentially touch millions of people, drop him a line at vpservices@ essco.ca. ESSCO has actively been in contact with Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) throughout the past few months. From November 7th to November 9th, ESSCO and PEO are hosting the Professional Engineers Ontario Student Conference (PEO-SC) at the University of Windsor. The theme of the conference is focused on public policy and leadership. Every day, the Ontario government addresses issues affecting the engineering profession through the development of public policy. But, what is public policy and how is it influenced and implemented? These ques-
tions form the basis of the conference, and it is sure to open your mind about how professional engineers shape the world around you. If you are interested in attending, contact your Vice President External, and they will fill you in on all the details. Plus, you get to meet contacts in government as well as hang out with the ESSCO Executive and engineering students from all across the province! After a month of sorting through applications, we are happy to announce the appointment of three students to Directorship positions! Rebecca Gatto from Lakehead University is our Women in Engineering Director, Sheila Sister from Queens University is our National Engineering Month Director, and Deanna Burgart from Lakehead University is our New Initiative Director. We would like to congratulate everyone on their new positions, and are looking forward to the great work throughout the remainder of their terms. There are still directorship positions to be filled, so if you are interested in working with ESSCO, head over to www.essco.ca and check out the opportunities available! Finally, Alix Bertrand (our ESSCO President) and I will be making a presentation at the PEO Chapter Leaders Conference in November. The PEO is composed of many different districts spanning across the province. Once a year, these chapters meet and discuss issues of common interest. Alix and I will be discussing student involvement in the Chapters, and ideas for initiatives that would be worthwhile for both the PEO members and engineering students. If you would like more information about the PEO Chapters, send me an email at vpcomm@essco.ca. There are other initiatives that we are pursuing, but we cant fit them all into this article. If you want any more information about who we are, what initiatives are underway, and how you can help us, head over to www.essco.ca or send me an email at vpcomm@essco.ca. Until next time, ESSCO is BESSCO!
Monday, November 3 Writing CVs and Cover Letters Are you interested in a career in academia or research? This workshop will show you how to prepare an effective curriculum vitae and cover letter when applying for positions in these areas. Time: 12:00 1:30 Location: TC 2218 Registration: Go to the CTE website: (http://www.cte.uwaterloo.ca/events_registration/CUT_events.html) Work Search Strategies for International Students International students will learn the best approaches to search for work (including visa requirements) while studying at UW as well as after graduating. Note: First hour of the session covers general job search strategies; last half hour details visa requirements. Time: 4:30 6:00 Location: TC 1208 Tuesday, November 4 Exploring Your Personality Type, Part I Two-session workshop: attend the first session to learn about your personality type and preferences for learning and decision making. In the second session, discover how to apply your MBTI type to explore potential career areas. Once you have registered, you will be given information on how to complete the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) online. Cost: $10.00 materials charge payable to Career Services prior to first session Time: 10:30 12:00 Location: TC 1112 Public Service of Canada Career Expo Learn about the exciting career opportunities that await you. Talk directly to federal Public Service hiring managers who have jobs to offer. Time: 1:30 6:30 Location: Federation Hall Second Session: Tuesday, November 11, 10:30 12:30, TC 1112 Are You Thinking about Dental School? Geoff Vokes from the Kaplan Centre in Toronto will review the key factors to be aware of when applying to Canadian dental schools (e.g., DAT scores, GPA) and will discuss the interview process. Time: 4:30 6:00 Location: TC 1208 Thursday, November 6 Business Etiquette and Professionalism
Proper etiquette is crucial to a successful job search and to your career. This workshop will cover dining etiquette as well as appropriate behaviour in interviews, employer receptions and other networking activities. Time: 3:30 4:30 Location: TC 1208 Monday, November 10 Working Effectively in Another Culture Explore the impact of culture and intercultural communication on the work environment and find strategies for success in a different work culture. This participatory workshop is geared to students who will go abroad to work and international students who want to work in Canada. Time: 3:00 4:30 Location: TC 1208 Tuesday, November 11 Exploring Your Personality Type, Part II Two-session workshop: attend the first session to learn about your personality type and preferences for learning and decision making. In the second session, discover how to apply your MBTI type to explore potential career areas. Once you have registered, you will be given information on how to complete the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) online. Cost: $10.00 materials cost payable to Career Services prior to first session Time: 10:30 12:30 Location: TC 1112 First Session: Tuesday, November 4, 10:30 12:00, TC 1112 Interview Skills: Preparing for Questions Learn how to improve your performance in the job interview by viewing and discussing taped excerpts of actual interviews. Time: 3:30 5:00 Location: TC 1208 Wednesday, November 12 Successfully Negotiating Job Offers Increase the odds of getting what you want when negotiating salary and other details related to the job offer. Note: This workshop is geared towards graduating students. Time: 4:30 5:30 Location: TC 1208 Thursday, November 13 Interview Skills: Selling Your Skills In order to receive that job offer, you must prove your skills in the interview. Here is your opportunity to practise and improve. Time: 3:30 5:30 Location: TC 1208
Things That They Dont Teach You

Finding Greatness in Unexpected Places
Jon Radice
2B Chemical
My lab group is a little bit unique, but I guess you wouldnt notice it by just glancing from afar. And I guess that if you look at it closely, it doesnt make too much of a difference. Our three man squad is comprised of the largest ranking spread possible. To clarify; our group is comprised of the person with the best marks in the class, and the person with the lowest marks of the previous term (of course, Im actually placed right in the middle of ranking). Many people would cringe at this; the prospect of having someone who can barely keep up with lectures in their group
would send some running for the hills. This one person could be holding back the other two (reasonably) competent partners in order to bring up his own average to sustain a passing grade. A recipe for disaster. Not in the slightest. The funny thing is, thanks to him, our group always finishes ahead of time, we always have a clear idea of what it is were doing, and we know the point of every part of the experiment. The person that was ranked last just gets how to handle hands-on situations. Whenever the group has a problem or a question, normally he can solve it before the TA even understands the question. Its gotten to the point where he helps the other groups when theyre having problems and more than once we had the highest ranked one in our group say that
hes a lot more comfortable doing labs when the others there. But unfortunately, this skill does not translate into a successful university career. Since Engineering is considered an Applied Science, it seems interesting that someone who is gifted in applying the knowledge is unable to keep up with the work doled out by the university. Where the top of the class is often a lot less capable in the real world then some of the bottom dwellers, but because they can play into the hand of academia, the same overseer that has haunted us since early high school, they are considered the more desirable engineer. Of course, the longer Im in this school the more I can see that the system fails to promote the truly gifted engineers. The whole questioning of the style of tutelage provided ultimately unfurls into
a much bigger debate, one filled with healthy amount of pros and cons, better discussed in a social justice class than in an engineering opinion piece. All Im saying is that just because someone might not be able to achieve amazing grades doesnt make them a bad engineer, and the best engineers arent the ones that get the highest marks; and you just have to have a conversation with some of your TAs to know that marks do not equal competency. The academic world has not designed a program to make and evaluate a truly great engineer, and there will always be people, on both ends of the spectrum, that slip through as a result. Until weve perfected our academic system, something I feel is unattainable, youll have to keep your eyes on your peers - you might find greatness in unexpected places.
14
Point vs. counterpoint

POINT
Should the Engineering Society Fee Be Raised to $16 in Summer 2010?

Trevor jenkins
2A management
COUNTERPOINT
cient for the time being. This term saw the initial budget staying in the black before the additional funds were allocated to additional directorships. The current $14 fee also remains one of the highest on campus. MathSoc charges $12.50, Arts Student Union $7, AHS $3, E(S) $10, and science at $9. The only society that charges a higher membership is Independent Studies with a $25/term. While were the envy of other societies for our resources like POETS, The Orifice, and CnD, were still students facing rising tuition costs, unruly textbook fees from publishing monopolies, and school requirements. While all of those are necessities, they add to the stress of paying rent, buying food, and maintaining a healthy recreational nightlife. The way the increase is set to take effect is not considerate of who would actually be affected. With the proposal coming into effect in summer 2010, it means that the 2009 and 2010 graduating classes will be voting on an issue that wont have any impact on them. While it is inevitable that a graduating class would end up voting on this issue, having two voting fails to take into account the actual feelings of the years directly affected. It would have been in better taste to have had this referendum during the next academic year so that the results would better reflect what students want. Overall, students should be apprehensive about supporting the proposed increase. While two dollars isnt a lot of money and would only be a $16 increase overall over five years, the fact that the current $14 fee is supporting all aspects of EngSoc should show students that the increase is not necessary, beyond the already approved 25 cent increase effective summer 2009. Regardless of your personal views, I strongly urge everyone to vote this upcoming weekend in order to have your opinion heard.
need for additional funds. Similar to Math Endowment Fund, WEEF has a commitMichelle ment improve undergraduate engineering Croal education. This means that WEEF funds 2B Chemical cannot be used for projects that solely improve engineering student life and services Each student enrolled in Engineering at around campus, such as renovations to the University of Waterloo currently pays POETS. Perhaps the proposed EngSoc fee $14 each school term as a fee to the En- increase could be utilized in such a mangineering Society. Next week, November ner, after providing directorship and other 1-4th, A-soc students will have a chance to service funding. vote in a referendum concerning a fee inOne such example of how additional crease to $16 per student per school term, funding is the Iron Warrior. [Editors note: starting in Spring 2010. What you may not The Iron Warrior does not officially endorse be aware of, is that this fee is already go- either side of the referendum. The writer ing to increase to $14.25 as of Spring 2009. has chosen the IW merely for the purposThis motion was put forward by B-soc dur- es of example. Point vs. Counterpoint is ing last summers Joint Council Meeting, meant to provide a balanced variety of perand was approved because of the sound spectives on a particular subject]. While reason behind it: inflation. the Iron Warrior is the official newspaper of Consider that apthe Engineering Society, An increase means more it is totally self-suffiproximately half of EngSocs income is stress-busting fun events cient. Funding for printdirected to directorand increased leadership ing comes from entirely ships and the remainfrom advertising and and volunteer opportuing amount must be it would only receive nities with the society. used to cover fixed money directly from the costs such as payroll, Society in the event of a operating costs and supplies. With the cur- defecit. When you compare this to the fact rent economic situations, it is likely that we that mathNEWS gets $3 per student per can expect an increase in fixed business op- term (deducted from the total $12.50), and erating costs everywhere, especially as the what the Iron Warrior could do with even a ever rising costs of fuel and energy cause $1 allocation (approximately $2500 a term other costs to increase. By proposing a fee on average), raises some interesting possiincrease two years in advance, it gives the bilities. The IW could print in full colour Engineering Society a better likelihood of every issue and devote more of our pages being able to meet fixed costs with enough to content than advertising! However, it is funds remaining to provide the services you important to note that the Iron Warrior is enjoy each term. one of the few EngSoc directorships that is Additionally, increasing the EngSoc fee completely self-sufficient; it supports itself should result in more budgeting allocated because it can, not because it has to. This for directorships. Directors are responsi- allows your fee to be better allocated to ble for planning and hosting many of the other directorships and services. engineering events that occur each term. The proposed increase will be coming Engplay, Genius Bowl and semi-formal into effect as soon as it can, one year after to name a few, are all events that require the fee hike to $14.25. Unfortunately that it and receive funding from the Engineering means half the students currently on camSociety. With more funding, existing direc- pus will actually be affected by this change, torships could potentially do more, and ad- while those arriving on campus next fall ditional ones could be brought to life. This will have no say in the matter. However, means more stress-busting fun events and the benefit of having this referendum so increased leadership and volunteer oppor- early is that if it is not passed by both sotunities with the society. The fee increase cieties this year, it can still be improved as will in general allow the EngSoc to provide required and presented again as economic more for the engineering students at UW, and education issues arise. more in terms of services, facilities and With rising tuition and costs of living, events. consider carefully what your EngSoc is doIn March 2007, MathSoc approved a $2 ing for you and whether you want more out fee increase. Understandably, the fee only of the services they provide. Dont forget increased to $12.50, so they did not have a that if you plan on not using POETS, the comparative income to what EngSoc does. Orifice or the CnD, or attending any engiMathSoc utilized a breakdown of where the neering events at all, your EngSoc fee is still fee from each student goes to demonstrate a refundable, whether $14 or $16 a term.
A proposal was put forward by B-Soc and passed by Joint Council this past spring that will see all EngSoc members vote in an upcoming referendum on whether to increase the membership fees up to $16 starting in summer 2010. Both societies would need to pass it first before results would be binding. Dont get me wrong: while EngSoc, through the exec, directors, volunteers and Mary, provides an invaluable service to its members, an increase in fees is not necessary at this time. For those that dont know, the budget is divided into two parts. Just over half of the money collected through fees and Orifice Sales, goes towards directorship and exec expenses while the rest is used for paying the societys fixed costs such as payroll, bank charges, telephone service, and general supplies. To see current and past budgets, go to engsoc.uwaterloo.ca/www/society.php. The main problem with the proposal is that the funds arent being allocated to one specific area. There is no word on whether they will go towards increasing directorship budgets, capital expenses, or combating rising fixed costs. When MathSoc members approved a $2 increase in March 2007, they knew it was going towards a Capital Improvements Fund. This fund would allow for improvements to be made to student space in MC, including the Comfy Lounge, CnD and student club offices. By knowing exactly where the money is being allocated, members were confident about how the increased funds would be used. Until EngSoc members know exactly where the money is going, they should be hesitant about being charged for it. Directorships events are traditionally where we see our fees in action the most. While directors usually only request the funds they believe theyll use during the term, typically not all the funds directors are allocated are spent. From data available from past budgets on the EngSoc website, only between 60-80% of requested money is actually used, with EngSoc holding onto the unspent money. While creating the budget often means that some directors funding proposals have to be rejected in order to prevent the unlikely possibility of a deficit, its evident that the current funding is suffi-
Editors Note: Point Vs. Counterpoint is a feature meant to stimulate discussion on thought-provoking topics. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the authors, The Iron Warrior, or the Engineering Society.
POETS
Wednesday Oct. 29 Spaceballs Almost Famous Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? Walk the Line Thursday Oct. 30 28 Days Later 28 Weeks Later Shaun of the Dead Friday Oct. 31
MOVIE SCHEDULE
showings BEGIN AT NOON
Monday Nov. 3 Enemy of the State A Night at the Roxbury Shes the Man Halloween Saw I Saw II Saw III Tuesday Nov. 4 2001: A Space Odyssey Clockwork Orange Dr. Strangelove
Wednesday Nov. 5
Idle Hand Sin City Never Been Kissed
Thursday Nov. 6
King Kong Hellboy Hellboy 2
Friday Nov. 7
Casino Royale Goldfinger GoldenEye
Monday Nov. 10 Apocalypse Now Robin Hood: Men in Tights Snatch
Tuesday Nov. 11 Remembrance Day Schindlers List Saving Private Ryan The Devils Arithmetic
15
Stress and Strain

tim bandura
2A mechanical
Facebook Security
Chad Sexington
2.5N MANgIneering
But Not the Mechanical Kind...

some of you. Secondly, you need to find an activity that can release your stress and tension. This is different for everyone. Some suggested activities from myself and other stressed-out Plummers: - Discuss your stress levels with friends. Telling them alerts them to the fact that you are not at your best. Friends will try to help you out. - Listening and singing to Boston, while taking a shower with lavender scented soap - Playing a pick-up sport or performing another sort of physical exercise - Eat cupcakes and bug or scare roommates - Watch your favourite episodes of your favourite television show - Putting your hair into pigtails, and running singing down the street in your PJs You may find that these do not work for you. If so, simply chose one of your favourite activities and use it to release your tensions as stress is something that you MUST deal with. Constantly running at a high level of stress can create health problems and lead to mental health issues as well. Im quite sure that everyone wants to live a long life, and releasing stress is one of the best ways to do so.
Engineering is not an easy program. Its full of fun and interesting times. For me and many other students, last week was what is affectionately known as Hell Week. Its a friendly week of straight studying and midterms. Add that to a pile of other responsibilities, and its easy to see how one can get stressed out. Stress is our reaction to finding ourselves in a situation that has more variety than we have responses. This could be something catastrophic, such as failing a midterm, or just simply day-to-day events adding up and overwhelming us. We proceed to then go through whatever reactions or self-destructions which are unique for each individual. For obvious reasons, it is best to avoid such reactions. There are a vast number of possibilities for dealing with stress. However, you must first recognize the signs of being stressed out. Anytime you start to feel stress starting to build up, you have to take some time. You need to look at your emotions and behaviour. I know this may be hard for
Under Construction
leah siczkar
1A Environmental
How fitting for building construction to occur on a university campus. Ground is slashed and pounded, creating gashes in the earth that releases plume after plume of dust into the air. It nearly clogs our airways. A new structure is to be erected in place of a simple, green field. Why is this fitting? Our minds are being assaulted with backhoes of knowledge, our
fingers being strengthened with iron framework. Through meticulous labour, our beings will be moulded. And well become a great structure, never built before. Our past is our foundation; built concrete and strong. And come graduation, our old selves are gone.
Haiku Time!
Michelle croal
2B Chemical
Pink Soap: Ubiquitous pink Inescapable soapies Clean of the people
Editing Fun: Awkward empty space Quick put a haiku in here! InDesign wants words.
So you say youre a hard worker? Welcome to my next column dear readers, Lets get right down to it: As sure as Christmas is coming, so is that dreaded time for job mining! There, I said it. Many of you have already been down into the job mine looking for that attractive diamond in the rough. For the rest, your time will come. When you do find that perfect job, you want to look your best, act your best and generally impress your interviewers right? I mean, you definitely want that sexy $35.00 an hour design consultant job instead of working in some professors McLaboratory. But it isnt all about the interview anymore, and neither is this article. In the good old days all you had to do to impress your interviewer was tidy up your resume, put on a nice suit, and show up to your interview as your confident, capable self. Not so in this day and age! You still need to do all that other stuff, but employers (and even landlords) are getting tech savvy and starting to look into your real life in other ways. What Im talking about here is Facebook, or Bookface as I call it. More and more often these days, people are logging on to check out their new employees/potential hires/new tenants before they make their final decisions about who to choose. So what does that mean for you? It means potentially not getting hired or even a place to live, thats what! When you sign up for Bookface you are signing up for a public-domain indexing service. This means that employers, landlords, and even your family can search for you and see anything you choose to share using that medium. Imagine you are a complete stranger browsing through your tagged photos on the Bookface. What would you think of yourself if you saw all of your current pictures? Would you see the images and label yourself as a slacker, a partier, or a sexual harassment lawsuit in disguise? Well your employers could be doing the same thing to you, right now! They might be looking at your pubcrawl, D.U.S.T.E.D., or birthday bash pictures and dubbing you an alcoholic not knowing that you are the most upstanding, hard working, talented young individual they will have ever met! This
goes double for you underage people (can you say, proof of illegal activities?). How can I fix this?! You exclaim. As one of my favourite books suggests, dont panic. Its all there in the account settings of your Bookface profile. To get secure, you first need to log on to your profile. Go up to the right hand side and click on Settings>Account Privacy. Under the Profile link use the drop boxes to set all of your information and pictures to Friends Only. This will stop employers from getting your address, seeing your photos, and finding out your favourite author, which could really hurt your chances of getting that sexy job. Under the Search tab, ensure that you are not being indexed by public search engines. This will stop employers from using Google to find you; try using it on yourself to see what comes up. Next, make sure that you are comfortable with the Search Visibility setting. Mine is set to friends of friends only. Your News Feed and Wall settings should also be chosen carefully. If you dont want comments you make to show up in everyones news feed, deselect the appropriate boxes. In the Applications tab select Settings so you can set which information about yourself is available to the Bookface applications. This includes photos, events you attend and your personal information. In addition, when you are uploading pictures, you can also edit which of your own personal photo albums are visible to whom. That means you can hide all those party pictures while still allowing your generous volunteer pictures to be seen by all. Finally, people are not beneath creating fake identities to befriend you. I know for a fact that many police departments nowadays use Bookface under assumed identities to monitor illegal activity and check out suspects. Always make sure you know a person before you let them see your information. This will stop you from getting caught out by fake friends who are really your potential employers. If you follow these simple security guidelines you should be well on your way to making sure you can keep your party self on the DL. Remember kids, dont share your bank account information with strangers, dont take candy from people you dont know, and most certainly dont get in a car with an odd looking man. Unless of course he has a puppy for sale. Stay Sexy!
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16
Killer Midterms? Learn to Fix Your Grades!

Michelle Croal
2B Chemical
Basic Fix-Its
What a smart move, Michelle, starting a column with content youre not entirely sure you have enough of to maintain for the entire term. Currently, I have nothing in my house thats broken, or at least, nothing thats broken enough for me to care about fixing until midterms and lab reports are done. I dont own a car so engine problems are out, and an energy efficient dryer that doesnt dry at all is a little beyond my scope. That said, I figured that Id write something on Basic Fix-its: Grades, especially considering that midterms are generally a wake-up call for many, especially frosh who may be unsure of what to expect the first time round, and even those upper students who take a couple weeks to get back into the swing of school terms. At the time of publication, I still havent finished all my midterms, but maybe youve got some results back already. I realize that study tips are widely available, presented countless times, and largely ignored, but I figured that what the heck, quite a few of you may be feeling desperate and lost and in needs of some useful tips. Here are some basic things Ive found helpful: Write it down! If you didnt do so well on midterms be-
Fashion Tips: Underneath Counts Too!

Under Where?
happy. First things first; your junk needs a wear these, and for a specific reason. My lift. thighs tend to rub together and chafe. So Now, I know a lot of guys out there se- having the material cover my thighs like a cretly think that having your reproductive glove provides something other than skin to organs hang loose is best for your body and rub together. If you have this problem, it is is the more rugged and masculine thing to very important that you not wear boxers or do. This couldnt be further from the truth. buy underwear that is larger than your pant Its certainly true that underwear that is too size. This is because the crotch on boxers constricting will damage your swimmers, is lower, and leaves room for your upperbut did you know that insufficient support inner thigh to chafe. Bigger underwear has can also lead to fewer viable swimmers? the same problem. Your body can move your factories around The old-fashion boxer: Not recommendto keep them at the optimal temperature, but ed unless you are really uncomfortable with if you dont help them out any level of support. To be with a little bit of a nudge honest, switching from towards warmth, they cant If youre in class right these will take about 2 to now, go ahead; stand- 3 uncomfortable weeks. do all of the work. Here are some typical up, interrupt your pro- Dont think this is all you complaints about under- fessor and exclaim: I can wear just because the wear that Ive been privy to: first non-boxer pair you heart underwear! They bunch up at my inner try on feels uncomfortable. thigh, they dont stay put, Warm up to them a little. they feel too tight, they make me sweaty, And finally some general tips: Always and the list goes on. If youve been won- buy cotton, nylon is synthetic and does not dering who honestly comes to see me to breathe. This is not healthy for your skin, complain about their underwear problems, especially skin that is moist (like your puyoud be surprised: most guys in engineer- bic region). Buy a cotton-lycra or stretch ing are unhappy or simply dont know that version instead, and choose a fitted size. they can get better underwear. A lot of these Rather than go up a size to get the room you problems can be alleviated with a good pair want, buy stretch underwear (typically 90% of underwear. So what are your choices, cotton 10% spandex). This will accomplish and whats best? two things: It will allow your body to adjust, The classic brief: I recommend this if and allow you range of motion while keepyou like a lot of support, if you really dont ing your underwear in place. Buy seam-free want any movement, or you are concerned or seam-less underwear; this makes it very about underwear lines showing. Its best to difficult to see the lines under your clothes. look for low-rise if you are very concerned The down-side is that youll have to give up about them showing. Typically choose the a fly for this. My top picks would have to same size or at most, one smaller than your be the Jockey line of Go Stretch undergarpant size. ments, or the Calvin Klein 365. You can get The mid-length boxer brief or trunk: I a 2 for 1 deal on this right now at the new recommend this for most guys. Your thighs Bay in Conestoga Mall. get warm, so you dont generally want them Good luck boys- and the ones in your covered, but having the elastic band around pants. your leg rather than through the crotch Ericas turn: allows for more room for your gonads. Bryan and I have been writing articles toChoose them to be about the same size or gether for some time now and our general smaller than your pant size. process is one of us writes and then sends The full-length boxer brief: These go to the other to proof-read and add. So now until just a few inches above your knee. I Im at the point where I have proof-read
People dont like doing your work for you). Course outlines can be helpful too, in giving you a starting point for which chapter in the text you should read to catch up. cause youve been missing assignments or Textbooks quizzes, then purchase a large calendar. Paste Purchase them! If you havent already done it somewhere visible in your room and write so, do it! Theyre pricy but useful, as you can all deadlines on it! A lot of people like to use find additional reference material and backagendas, which help with the day-to-day and ground to what was discussed in class, examon the move keeping track of things, but hav- ples and solutions to problems that may be on ing something big and visible right above your exam or assignments, as well as stories your desk really helps you remember whats about some girl who took this textbook on going on and whats coming up. A four month her work term and how successful she is now calendar is ideal, as it (amazingly!) matches (rolls eyes). Read them before class to get a the length of head start; read a school term, them after class to so you can opclarify concepts. timize long And, if all else and short term fails, textbooks are planning. Colgood for biceps and our coding by stacking into coffee priority or topic tables. also makes it Focus! easier to see at a Turn off your glance whether distractions, espeyour Item of cially electronics. Importance is a Music might help midterm, job inyou study, but keep Stuart Pearson terview or assignit at a background It happens to the best of us... ment deadline. volume level so Missing class: you study more than dance. Work in a well lit Generally not a good idea, because catching area, preferably at a nice ergonomic desk! (I up for lost time can lead to a lot more stress have trouble filling both of these conditions than you anticipated, however sometimes it unfortunately). Turn off MSN or other chat cant be avoided (midterms, report deadlines, programs, unless youre working on a group interviews). Keep track of missed classes project or asking for help. Youll be able to do with a written, visible list and be sure to get your assignment more efficiently and quickly, the notes from a friend (but dont be a mooch. and then be able to chat guilt-free afterwards.
If you have a favourite show to watch, take a break and watch it, but turn off the TV when the episode is finished. Disconnect your internet if you need to! Review during the term, not just at the end: Read over your notes at the end of the day, or at the very least at the end of the week. Look for additional sources that might give some extra insight into a certain topic or concept. In 2A I started writing weekly summary notes for each course, which is a high maintenance method of reviewing, but its pretty golden for kick-starting studying during exam time. Spending about 20 minutes per subject per class should be enough. Go join stuff, go run around, get a job or go party: Despite what you may think, having less time helps you be more productive. Scratch that, everyone knows that the rate at which work is done is inversely proportional to the time left until the deadline. So what if you have less time, all the time? Being involved will force you to work around your other commitments and use your time more effectively (theoretically). Plus productive procrastination feels better than just being plain lazy. Finally, remember that theres more to life than school. Youre here for 5 years; make the most out of it. Call home, learn to cook, waste time with your roommates until 3am and pick up a new hobby. If you want more tips, check out Tims article on stress and Chad Sexingtons first year experience. Also, read Jons article about things they dont teach you, because sometimes, thats more important than the numbers that are on your transcript.
Bryan Sachdeva
4N computer
Erica Waugh
4N Civil
You wanted to talk about, so were going to dive right into them. Thats right! Well be airing out your dirty underwear! Like foundation is the base for a good makeup job, err- lets put this in engineering termslike a good operating system is to a program or a strong frame to a bridge (Erica, help me out here!), underwear is very important to your fashion and personal style. Its true; underwear needs to fulfill so many different purposes all at the same time. They really do deserve to take a bow right now. If youre in class right now, go ahead; standup, interrupt your professor and exclaim: I heart underwear! Yes, they need to be anatomically supportive and functional, but they also need to provide a good base for clothing to sit on, as well as fit into your outfit and your style. Our point: your 6-pack of generic brand undies from Wal-Mart just wont do. Thats not to say that you cant buy your underwear from Wal-Mart, but, like most computer and engineering equipment, the expensive stuff really does work better. Ericas interjection: I AM SICK OF SEEING HANES and FRUIT OF THE LOOM STICKING OUT OF YOUR PANTS! Dont worry, if youre like JD OLeary and are thinking to yourself, I just wear underwear because I thought we just had to have something between our junk and our clothes, well explain. Underwear shopping is quite different for guys than gals. So lets get down and dirty, shall we? Bryans POV: Those of you that know me best will know that I love going underwear shopping, and that I cant stand the cheap stuff. Heres why: I like a good level of support for my boys, and I like to feel sexy. A good pair of boxer briefs is like a good dog: follows your every move and makes you feel
and its time to add. Im in a pickle: what do I add to THAT?? We ladies have nothing to lift, hang loose, or stow. I think Im supposed to tell girls that granny panties, underwear lines, and hip-riders are no-nos. But you know that. Instead Im going to open up a bit and tell you about me. Hello to my family, the Deans office, EngSoc, and the world; welcome to my pants! My relationship with underwear has spanned decades and we have travelled the world together. A few things Ive learned include: spend money, have fun with it, and dont flaunt it. We are classier than that. I must say that it is very attractive to catch a glimpse of a guys boxers but very trashy to catch a glimpse of a girls thong. Please ladies, for lack of a better term, keep it in your pants. Also, you will not regret spending a bit of cash on those unmentionables. Some recommended brands include Gap Lingerie, Calvin Klein (that guy knows underwear,) and for a splurge, try Victorias Secret. As there is no store near-by, youll have to head online. They have a great website and an easy return policy. Give it a shot! One of the problems I find girls are always running into is underwear lines. How do you avoid them? Well, there is the obvious answer of just not wearing any. If you are comfortable with this (which is totally fine) please do not pair it with low rise pants. Your bum-crack is not hot. There is also the obvious thong option, but what if neither of these agrees with you? Choose a bikini style panty made of thin cotton as you are more likely to get a smaller seam and thus less-visible panty lines. There is also a newer option: SPANX. Spanx is a line of womens underwear and panty-hose designed to make your bum look AMAZING and avoid panty lines. They are ideal for slinky dresses and hot nights out. I dont recommend them for everyday but if you find yourself with this problem often, invest in a pair and you will not regret it. Available a specialty stores and (conveniently) Winners. Thats all Ive got to say folks! All the best to you and your goods!
Better Know A Beer

Holsten Festbock
17
looking at all the available imports. Finally, I picked up a 500ml green can that stated what I had been looking for, Festbock, a beer brewed specially for Rory aRNOLD 4A MECHANICAL this great festival at the end of the harvest. Holsten Festbock is a strong GerIf you talk to most 4th year students, man lager from the Holsten brewery in they will all have a good Oktoberfest Hamburg. Holsten was founded in 1879 story to tell. I know a large portion of and are known mostly for their pilsners. them (myself included) will tell you the Although it is a German brewery, it is drunkest theyve ever been was at Okto- named after Holstein in lower Belgium. berfest. When you read this, Oktoberfest In 2004 it was purchased by Carlsberg. will be long gone. The Festhallens will This is a popular German import to return to banquet halls Canada, as a number and hockey rinks for of their beers are made Holsten Festbock is yet another year. Onkel widely available to Caa strong German laHans will go back into nadian beer drinkers. ger from the Holsten hibernation and my livThe Festbock is a bock er will be getting a wellbeer made for the aubrewery in Hamburg. deserved break (for a tumn festival. A bock few hours at least). is a strong German laI attended two Festhallens at the end ger that is darker in colour with a malty of the week. One at Bingemans and one flavour. The term bock comes from the at the Aud. The Thursday night event German town Einbeck, where the style was a great festival attended by a large originated. portion of McMaster and U of T engiFestbock pours a dark reddish brown neers and Guelph women. Friday night with a strong malty aroma with a hint of was more of an assault on the Oktober- fruit and alcohol. It contains 7% alc./vol. fest traditions. I know the parties in- A nice tan head will form and mostly volved meant well and tried hard with disappear, but will stick to the glass for decorations and food of German culture, most of the time you enjoy the beer. The but when the polka band was taken off taste like most German beers, is fairly the stage and replaced by popular music simple with the taste of roasted malts and I felt more like I was in a nightclub than no aftertaste. The beer comes in a can a Festhalle. and should be poured into a beer mug or Both Festhallens served standard Ca- stein to release the sweet aromas. nadian lagers as opposed to German Bocks are my favourite type of lager beers. This is forgivable since they went and I give this beer a score of 80/100. through such an immense amount of the If you enjoy a sweeter, maltier taste this liquid gold that importing enough from would be a great beer to try. The can is Germany or having a microbrew make nicely decorated with a large Holsten a large enough batch would be nearly logo of a knight riding his horse, holdimpossible. I was not deterred however; ing a shield with a big H on it. An old I was going to drink at least one real German town celebrates with fireworks Oktoberfest beer. So off to the LCBO I in the background. went. I wandered slowly through the aisles
The Iron Chef: Tea Party Scones

Jaclyn Sharpe
4A Mechanical
Mixology 101: Shaken, Not Stirred

The Art of Mixing Martinis
to be the trend among more sophisticated martini connoisseurs. Also, shaking a martini and straining it into the glass (serving it without ice in the glass) rather than stirring it is more common today than it ever has been. This shift towards having a shaken martini is attributed to an old James Bond film in which Bond spoke the famous line, Shaken, not stirred. Traditionalists state that shaking a martini dulls the taste of the vermouth and bruises the gin, thereby making its taste more sharp. Despite this unsubstantiated claim (well leave that to Chem. Eng. to prove), shaking a martini looks much more impressive than simply stirring it so shaken martinis are likely here to stay. Regardless of the method used to prepare a classic martini, the taste is fairly similar: strongly alcoholic. Upon review of the ingredients (gin and vermouth) it is apparent that a classic martini can only be enjoyed by true lovers of alcohol with an acquired taste for ... well, the taste of alcohol. Fortunately, for all of us who prefer our drinks to not taste like gasoline, the trend lately is flavoured martinis! In fact, the majority of martinis ordered in bars in North America today bear no resemblance to the classic martini, rather, they are variously flavoured fruity concoctions shaken and served in the ever stylish martini glass. I personally am a huge fan of flavoured martinis for many reasons. They come is so many flavours you can never run out of versions to try. Furthermore, they generally contain 2oz of liquor with less mix than highballs so you can actually taste the alcohol a bit and you feel the effect faster. Finally, martini glasses look really classy and are fun to carry around (except for the part where they spill pretty easily). Mixing flavoured martinis really isnt too tough. Most common drinks (including the highballs we discussed last issue) can be altered to become a flavoured martini. Essentially, if there is one mixer, keep the amount of alcohol constant and reduce to the amount of mixer so it all fits in a martini glass. If there are two or more mixers, proportionally reduce the amount of mixers while maintaining the amount of alcohol constant so it all fits in a martini glass. If you dont necessarily want to experiment with creating your own martinis to begin, there is an easy way to make a few common flavoured martinis using a prefab mix. A great one is Roses Cocktail Infusions, which is a non-alcoholic mixer and is available at most grocery stores (including Wal-Mart) for about $5. It comes in a cool wavy glass bottle and is available in 5 flavours, although I believe only 3 of them are available in Canada. All you have to do is add equal parts vodka to the mix flavour selected and your martini is made. When using this method, I always add a squirt of lemon juice to take away to sweetness and a splash of Sprite to give it some fizz. If youre feeling a bit more adventuresome, try mixing one of my favourite flavoured martini recipes below: Tip: If you plan on shaking your marti-
Ingredients: 3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup white sugar 5 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup butter 1 egg, beaten 1 cup milk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a large bowl mix dry ingredients and cut in butter. Mix the egg and milk separately and add to flour mixture gradually. You want enough liquid so that you can knead the dough, but not so much that its sticky. Knead dough 8-10 times. On a cookie sheet pat the dough into a 1/2 thick round and cut into 8 wedges. Space out the wedges on the sheet and bake 15 minutes, until golden brown.
Amanda leduc
2a management
One of the most recognizable drinks today is the martini. The tall stemmed glass with a distinctive triangular shaped silhouette in which martinis are served has become synonymous with class and alcohol. The history of the martini is uncertain. It is believed to be based on an old drink called a Martinez. The Martinez contained sweet vermouth, gin, maraschino liqueur and bitters and was named after the place it was created: Martinez, California. Another theory is that the martini obtained its name from an Italian vermouth manufacturing company known as Martini (Martini & Rossi is the North American counterpart to the Italian company Martini). In fact, if you order a martini in Italy, you are likely to get a glass of vermouth. You must specify martini cocktail to obtain the mixed drink. The classic martini contains five parts gin to one part dry vermouth and is garnished with either an olive or a lemon twist. Traditionally, the ingredients should be stirred together with ice and then poured into the martini glass to be served. The modern version of the classic martini contains either vodka or gin and as much or as little sweet or dry vermouth to suit personal taste. Adding less vermouth is said to make a drier martini and seems
nis, buy a decent quality plain shaker rather than a fancy one. I happen to have an aesthetically pleasing shaker, but it leaks when I shake it, so I rarely ever shake martinis (which is a real shame because shaking a martini looks so impressive). Interesting Fact: The cone of the martini glass should never be filled more than full. Because the shape of the martini glass is so conducive to spilling, the cone is actually designed larger than the amount of liquid it should hold to minimize the amount of spills. Cheers and Happy Mixing!
Easy Martinis
Jolly Rancher
2 oz. Vodka 1 oz. Sour Puss Raspberry Splash of lemonade to taste Tasting Note: Fruity and refreshing, great patio drink on a hot day!
Minty Chocotini
2 oz. Vodka 1 oz. Crme de menthe 1 oz. Crme de cacao Tasting Note: Chocolaty and minty, perfect for dessert!
Sour Blue Raspberry
2 oz. Vodka 2 oz. Roses Blue Raspberry Infusion A few drops of lemon juice Splash of Sprite or Club Soda 4 oz. Ginger ale
18
The Once and Future Danger-person & Thanking John from The Grill
Dangerman
4A Chemical
The Adventures of Dangerman

ally a bad idea to reveal details in public publications. However, I will say that John from the Grill saved my life! Or anyway, he saved me from the legal and financial repercussions of being a bad Dangerman. In honour of his thoughtful act (for I should mention when he helped me, he did not realize that he was helping I, Dangerman, but rather just some random person) I promised myself that for my next article, I would encourage my readers to go eat at the Grill and tell John, Dangerman says thanks. Alright, now that that business is out of the way, lets cut to the chase. In my last issue I announced with some brevity that Ive decided to select a successor to carry on my dangerous ways. No, Im not dying. Yes, the police are still looking for me and I really should get out of town soon, but thats not why either. Rather, its just time for me to be moving on to new adventures. Like Brooks in The Shawshank Redemption, despite being thoroughly institutionalized, this old crook has made his parole. (i.e. Im finally going to gradumacate) So without further ado, here be the Rules and other Stuff! Rules for Competing in DangerAcademy: First Rule: There are no rules, Suckas! 1 Second Guideline: Ladies are definitely encouraged to compete. Third Guideline: If you are not a reckless neer-do-well cad, please go tryout for the Caution-boy position currently held by Michael Seliske2. Your hands will get dirty. You will need to perform unscrupulous acts in order to win. You will probably defile your temple or someone elses. Fourth Guideline: Theres no crying in Danger-Academy! (unless youre making someone else do it, in which case thumbs up) Fifth Guideline: Applicants must be of reasonable intelligence and comedic prowess. (i.e. if you cant write worth a damn, dont bother) Sixth Guideline: Applicants must be
humour and satire
To begin with... Operation Grill. Folks, before I get started with my article this week, I want to take a minute to talk about a local hero of mine. Im talking about the man who put the Chill in the Grill, and was then forced by legal action to take it out again. Im speaking of course about John the owner of The Grill or as old folks like me still remember, The Chill and Grill in University Plaza. Apart from running the most delicious burger joint in Waterloo, John has also been a long-time supporter of the Engineering Society, and a multitude of other engineering events. Basically, hes just a really good dude. Last week, I was doing what I do best; breaking the law. I dont want to get into too many details, since its gener-
of reasonable academic standing. (i.e. if youre going to graduate at Christmas, dont bother) Formal applications will not be necessary. Feel free to fire me off an email, so I know youre interested. DangerAcademy Event advertisements will be posted. If anyone wants to volunteer to help me run the events without actually competing shoot me off an email as well. Till next time, Dangerman Eric.dangerman@gmail.com More like guidelines really...I just always wanted to have a competition where someone says in a ridiculously ominous voice, There are no rules!, possibly followed up with a Suckas! for extra effect. Still Id like to maintain the spirit of a There are no rules, suckas! competition for this one. 2. If you REALLY think youre qualified, Ill keep you under consideration, but dont try to kid a kidder kid.
1.
Chad Sexington
2.5N MANgineering
How You Doin? Well now, arent you just a Sexy IW reader. Let me introduce myself before we get any further in our relationship. I go by many names to many different people here, but for you readers, there is only one you need to know. Je suis Chad Sexington, and (ladies take note) Im where the Sexys been at since before J.T. even lost it. Im in 2.5N MANgineering (thats NOT Management), Ive got a Masters in Awesome and a PhD in Sexiness. People would describe me as sexy, lovable, handsome, charming and other things besides. Im your everyday renaissance man. Im your in-house ladies man. Im your Mr. Fix-it. Im your go-to guy. Im a slice of life and a highball of wit. To sum it all up, Ill be your new favourite columnist for the next few years and its going to be legen (-wait for it-) dary. With the disheartening disappearance of the beloved Low Rider (ladies in the Low Rider fan club might consider switching to my own), and the looming departure of my esteemed colleague Dangerman, yours truly has decided to put aside a few minutes of life to share his thoughts with you. Why? Because I care. Though I dont really know what format this column will be in yet, its sure to be a sexy one once Ive figured it all out. Im not new to these halls, but I am new to these pages, and Im starting off with a bang. Because youre going to be seeing a lot of me on these ink-covered slices over the coming years, I thought Id take my first mainstream article to tell you a bit about myself. Exhibit A: Things that I love: I love Beer. All of it. Any engineer worth his or her salt and pepper should be able to hold their own against a horde of thirsty Germans when it comes to the brewskis. Not that I condone your binge drinking habits, but if youre going to be an engineer, you should at least taste the finest BEvERage that mankind has ever created before you get your irons. I love Pumpkin Pie. Screw Thanksgiving. Give me that delicious, nutri-
tious, like-sex-in-my-mouth pumpkiny goodness any day. Hell, I havent had a birthday cake in over 10 years. If youre going to be at my party, youre having pie. Many ladies can attest to the quality of my cooking. I love Techno. The beat flows through me. Theres nothing like waking up, going about your day, and falling asleep to pounding bass, sweet harmonies and gentle melodies (respectively) which are all encompassed under the umbrella of Techno. Its got so many flavours theres something for everyone. Rhythm and flow are a necessity, none of that speedcore garbage. I love wood. The taste of it, the smell of it, the texture of it. I love wood so much-Woah now, there I go getting carried away again. What I mean is lumber, trees, and the smell of sawdust in the morning. For me, it was the choice between engineer and lumberjack. Go cut down a tree, and learn to use an axe properly while youre at it! Support the main industry of Canada: Forestry and Lumber. The smell of sawn cedar and texture of a fine grain beneath your fingers is all a man could ever ask for. And be sure to check me out in Lumberjacks Weekly; Im doing their new fall axe line. Because sometimes you just have to take the time to stop and smell the softwood. Thats enough of that for now. Youll find out more about the things I love (and hate) over the next few years. To round up this article, Id like to share a story with my frosh (and upper year) friends about an adventurous young first year engineer, and one of the things he learned during 1st year. Exhibit B: The Young Ones Arrive: A few years ago,a young, sexy, intrepid froshie walked through the doors of UW and began his journey towards an Iron Ring. At first he was confident, cocky, and downright sexy. After having done not too badly in high school, he finally felt at home among peers discussing physics, math and science. He made a few friends, went to his classes, did some homework, and attended a lot of sexy parties. But alas, good times were put on hold and the first round of midterms arose. Being his confident self, this young man decided he would do what he had always done: study for them. Much to his dismay, he performed (only on the exams) terri-
Enter Chad Sexington
bly! A 60 here, a 70 there, and nothing above an 80? I have failed he said to himself, but at least Im still sexy! So this young man decided he would buckle down and get back to his old place in the class. Neglecting any and all invitations from the ladies, he studied and learned like never before. He became obsessed with learning every detail and fact. He tried and retried his problem sets, and when finals rolled around the young man sat confidently in his seat to put forth the best of his knowledge. To his chagrin, he had achieved only slightly better than before. What kind of deal is this?! he exclaimed. All of the work, stress, and lack of socializing seemed not to have paid out equal dividends. Being a wise young stud, the cunning, sexy, young man had an idea. The next term he cut back on the sexy parties a wee bit, set aside more time, studied a lot harder than he normally would have, and, you guessed it, came out somewhere right in the middle of the pack. He relaxed and enjoyed his courses rather than concerning himself with every detail. He took time to learn the important details,
but also to meet new people and have a real life. He had found that putting in extra effort would get him that extra average, and that little extra sexy would get him that extra... nevermind. I have learned the secret! he said to himself and Im still sexy. From then on, he was happy. The moral of this story, is that you need to find a happy medium between work and play. Engineering is hard. But all work and no play makes the Chad a dull, bored, stressed out man. You need to find the happy place where you do enough work to get self-satisfying marks, but still have time to go out and enjoy yourself. For my first year friends who have just finished midterms, dont let it get you down and dont let it stress you out. Keep at it. Study hard, but have some fun too. Find your special place, wherever that may be. Stay Sexy! Want to have a question answered by Chad Sexington in the next IW? Email your questions to Questions4Chad@ gmail.com
Diarrhea of a Toolbearer
Sylvia wu
1T Mechatronics
The Iron Crossword

Matthew casswell
2A Civil
5 12 13 16 18 19 25 28 31 35 37 38 42 45 52 55 46 39 43 47 53 56 48 49 50 40 36 29 32 33 34 20 26 21 6 7 2 3 4 8 14 17 9 10
19
1 11 15
Across
Crossword Clues
1. Spam without the S 2. Western Indian 4. NE French region 5. Animal foot 6. American state 7. Adjure 8. Chips 9 . Flat roll 10 . Assistant 12. Alleviate 19. Former Russian ruler 21. Top 22. Boeing 23. Baboon 24. Japanese currency 25. Devil 29. Sound of a sneeze 31. Ponders 32. Con 33. Vane direction 34. Guy 35. Chin 36. Swamp 37. Blink of an eye 38. Desired 40. Skirt 41. MTVs ____s 42. Boats wind catcher 46. Teddy 48. TV lawyer Matlock 49. French yes 50. Choose
Down
22 27 30
23
24
41 44 51 54
Iron Sudoku
Matthew casswell
2A Civil
2 7 1
9 2 9 8 2 5 2 3 8 1
6 1 7
1. Insect in a cocoon 5. Bar 8. Toronto Raptors 11. _______ of Two Cities (2 wds) 13. Snacked 14. Three 15. Worlds oldest High-IQ society 16. Been 17. Auto ___ 18. Age/Sex/Location 20. Harass 22. Junior Chamber 26. Facile 27. Fencing sword 28. Association 30. Decade 31. The only Halloween-related word in this crossword! 32. Ruby 35. Biblical Prophet 36. Asian starling 37. Greater ___ 39. Closed (2 wds) 41. Large groups 43. Possessive pronoun 44. Tear 45. Munch 47. No-no 51. Frozen water 52. Brazilian city 54. _______ the chicken before it expires (2 words) 55. Where you should be at 8:30 am 55. Slick 56. Vexation 73. Cincinnati baseball team 74. Smaller than an ocean but larger than a lake 75. Saclike structures filled with fluid or diseased matter
3. Rhymes with the answer for 1 Down
1 4 8 5 5 6 3 9 6
This chalk is so soft... They dont make chalk for real men any more. ~Renksizbulut, ME353 Can someone please come up and show the forces? Just show them, dont spoil my diagram!! ~ Pal, CHE 211 I took this course when I was in 2A ... I hated it. ~Kennings, ECE 223 (referring to ECE 223) This isnt masochistic, this is fun! Its only masochistic if you dont enjoy it! ~New, Math 218
Prof Quotes
IRON INQUISITION
Stuart Pearson, 2A Civil
What is the scariest thing that you can think of?
THE
Marc Tan 2A Civil Armoured parachuting bears.
Yousif Al-Khder 2A Management Being the Editor-in-Chief of the Iron Warrior.
Chris Spakes 2B Chemical PDEng Results.
Dane Corneil 4A Systems A Palin presidency.
Tim Bandura 2A Mechanical If the IW ceased to exist and I was forced to read Imprint and *shudders* MathNEWS.
20
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The Iron Warrior: Volume 29, Issue 13

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The Newspaper of the University of Waterloo Engineering Society

Volume 29 Issue 13 | Wednesday, october 29, 2008

SPECIAL ENGSOC ELECTION FEATURE

Dean Rothenburg Reveals All About Dubai Campus

More Cash Pledged For IQC

UW Grad Innovator of the Year

Acting Dean Leo Rothenburg

Conceptual Model of new Quantum-Nano Centre.

wednesday, october 29, 2008

Letter from the Editor

Wednesday, october 29, 2008

UW Students Face Extradition from Canada

WIE Tea Party

Sandford Fleming Foundation

wednesday, october 29, 2008

Jay Ingram Speaks to UW Students About Global Warming

Cool Ideas Come to Waterloo

Harper Misses Majority, but Gains Ground

Looking Back on Oktoberfest

Wednesday, october 29, 2008

MIDDLE EAST EXPANSION Continued from Page 1

Exciting Future for UW in Middle East

Have You Got What it Takes?

Genius Bowl XIV

Sandford Fleming Foundation

Sanford Fleming Debates

November 3,4 & 5 from 11:30am to 1:00pm

E2-3336, ext 84008, sff@engmail.uwaterloo.ca www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/~sff

wednesday, october 29, 2008

Rowan Atkinson: More Than Meets the Eye

Bridging the Gap Between School and Work Term Experiences

The Wall: Part II

What is The Wall?

Wednesday, october 29, 2008

Engineering, information and free cookies

Come to This Terms Semi-Formal!

New Guidance in a Time of Change

wednesday, october 29, 2008

Engineering Society Executive Reports

Potential electronic billboard installation sites.

Referendum Details on back cover of insert

see inside for complete platform details

Vice President, Education

Vice President, Education Vice President, Education

Vice President, Education

Vice President, External

Vice President, Internal

Vice President, Finance

Vice President, Finance

- Special Election & Referendum Insert -

Vice President, Education

- Special Election & Referendum Insert -

Vice President, External

Vice President, Internal

Vice President, Finance

- Special Election & Referendum Insert -

The Termly Engineering Talent Show

Tuesday, November 4th 7:30 PM

How the Election Works

Election and Referendum

Wednesday, october 29, 2008

Hot Knowledge, Fresh Out of the Oven

The World of ESSCO

CECS November Events